


The Stars Lead Home

by HorseCrazyWriter76



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: (Not stated in fic but is written with that in mind), Angst, Autistic!Roman, Cameo appearances by many of Thomas's friends, Disabled!Patton, Fem!Roman, Fire, Fluff, Gen, Illness, Janus(Mentioned), Minor Violence, Minor character death(non-graphic), Nonbinary!Virgil, Panic Attack, Paralysis, Remus(mentioned), Thomas(mentioned) - Freeform, WheelchairUser!Patton, cursing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-14
Updated: 2020-08-14
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:20:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 45
Words: 40,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25824280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HorseCrazyWriter76/pseuds/HorseCrazyWriter76
Summary: Four people, four stories.Logan, who had a neat future all set up for him until the fire that took everything, even his desire for emotion, away.Patton, who was just a little too late to try and find his friends again after the sickness that left him paralyzed from the waist down.Virgil, who just wants to get home.Rose, who just wants to have an adventure away from her annoying twin, Remus.How will these four stories intertwine? Only time(and some reading) will tell.
Relationships: Logan & Virgil & Patton & Roman
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15
Collections: Storytime! 2020





	1. Prolouge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hello and thank you for clicking on my story. I have a brief word before you start reading:  
> -This is a part of the Sanders Sides Big Bang 2020, and it has art that goes with it! Check it out here: https://callboxkat.tumblr.com/post/626488790307962880/the-stars-lead-home-illustrations  
> -Commenting is encouraged. Anything from thoughtful reviews to keysmashes to hearts will be cherished.  
> -All definitions are from the Merriam Webster dictionary
> 
> And without further ado, please enjoy the story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prologue(N): The preface or introduction to a literary work

Virgil knew mostly what he was doing when he set out. He couldn’t prepare very well since he barely had anything to start with. All his belongings amounted to a few sets of clothes, a backpack, and a coin purse that held so few coins it would be just as functional as just cut-outs of fabric that weren’t stitched together.

Regardless, he knew there was a graveyard with a healthy community of spirits, and that was where he went first. It was still light out, so he sat down and waited. The sun finally dipped all the way behind the horizon, and the spirits came slowly, drifting between the gravestones.

“Hello, can you help me?” Virgil asked when he thought most of the spirits had revealed themselves.

“I said he said she said we can try no yes.”

“I’m looking for my home.”

“I said he said she said we can’t make maps we can’t help you we can’t find it.”

“Do you know someone who can?”

“I said he said she said ask the goblins no goblins can’t find it either.”

Virgil waited for the spirits to come to a consensus. It was strange to hear them arguing over whether goblins could help him out loud. Spirits in the desert were usually far quieter. Maybe it was because they had less of an anchor, or maybe it was because they were usually alone.

“I said he said she said goblins can’t help you’ll have to find a genie there’s one that lives with the witches at the end of town.”

Virgil sighed. Of course it could never be as easy as just chatting with some dead people.

“Thank you,” Virgil said, then set out for the house. He reached through defense and in to flight to speed up the process. He made it to the house and pulled back in to defense to make a small barrier in his hands. He focused for a moment until it held the watery shape that marked one as a traveler passing through, even though he doubted the people knew barrier sign. It wasn’t common outside of the desert.

Virgil knocked on the door anyways. The sun set early, so hopefully they would be awake. His knock was answered.

“What do you come to seek?” the person said, “A tonic to cure your woes?”

“No. The spirits told me you had genie,” Virgil replied.

“Yes, but we don’t let just anyone take three wishes,” the person replied, “You have to be adept at magic to truly appreciate a genie.”

“I can do magic,” Virgil said, waving his barrier.

“Well, you’ve already passed the first test: create a protective aura.”

Virgil fought the urge to frown at the odd phrasing: a sharp reminder that he was far from home.

“Can you tell me where the largest scar on my body is?” the person said. Virgil pulled back from defense, then pushed through it in to healing. There was a large knot of scar tissue on their arm, but also a fresher cut that would make a larger scar on their upper thigh.

“There’s a big one on your arm and a cut that will leave a big scar on your thigh,” Virgil said, pointing out where he felt it on the relative places on his own body and wondering what they were doing that made so many scars.

“A final test for a final wish: create then heal a small cut on my arm without touching me."

“Oh, I don’t-I mean-I can’t do that. I can reach through flight, defense, and healing, but not offense.”

“That’s fine. I don’t think the tasks are really necessary, and you clearly have a good amount of knowledge relating to magic. I’ll retrieve the genie,” the person said.

Virgil relaxed through healing and defense to wait. The person returned quickly and handed him a small lamp. Virgil gently rubbed it, and blue smoke drifted out and took the form of a genie.

“I’d like to go to my home with no harm done to anyone or thing,” Virgil said when it finished appearing. The genie snapped, shook out its wrist, then snapped again. Virgil didn’t feel any different.

“That wish is beyond my reach. You have three wishes left.”

“I’d like my hair to be the color of desert bell blooms with no harm done to anyone or thing,” Virgil said, narrowing his eyes. Moving a single person somewhere was hardly out of the reach of a genie. He felt a slight tingling sensation, and when he pulled a piece of his hair down in to his line of sight it was purple.

“I’d like 4o gold nicks with no tricks to appear in my hands with no harm done to anyone or thing,” Virgil said, holding out his hands.

The genie snapped, and Virgil pocketed the gold.

“I’d like to be transported to someone who can help me find my home,” Virgil said. The genie snapped, and Virgil felt the wind pick up right as he realized he forgot to add the no harm clause.

*****

Patton had no idea what he was doing when he set out. He had planned to find his friends, then go home or stay with them. Now he sat in front of two gravestones. The sun filtered in through the leaves, rendering the tiny code letters almost unreadable, but Patton could see enough to know that the grave he sat in front of was marked as Emile Picani, and the grave that sat to the left was marked as Remy Picani.

Patton was alone with the forest with the graves of dozens of people he didn’t know and two people he knew. Well, more than two. He recognized a couple other names near Emile and Remy.

Patton wished he still had the genie lamp. Wishing for his wheelchair to be able to fly, for the genie to be free, and to go to his friends seemed so stupid now: trivial wishes in the face of the gravestones. The genie that brought him here was way back in the town he started from: a day and a half’s walk, from what he remembered. At least his wheelchair could float now. He laughed to himself. It wasn’t funny.

Where was he supposed to go? The Picanis only came here to bury the dead, and no one else knew about it. He didn’t see any markers for how to get back to camp, or any trail at all leading in or out of the graveyard. All he knew was that he was about 20 miles from where he started. Patton sighed. Forward seemed as good as any direction. He slid the small lever on the inside rim of the left wheel forward until he hovered a couple inches off the ground and started weaving through the trees.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 0  
> Patton: 20 Miles  
> Virgil: ??? Miles


	2. Prolouge

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prologue(N): A preface or introduction to a literary work

Rose had very little idea what she was doing when she set out. She only set aside a day to prepare after deciding to run, throwing everything that she thought would be useful, and could fit in to her little backpack. This amounted to a dress, her sketchbook, three pencils and a pencil sharpener, all her money, some food, a lighter, and a map of the continent.

Rose dressed in pants and a plain t-shirt with a jacket over top. She made sure her backpack was on securely before she snuck down the stairs, avoiding the creaky step, 4th from the bottom. She slipped out the window and slid it closed behind her. She paused, listening to the night around her. She was rewarded by the sleepy sounds of the few insects the cold hadn’t scared off yet. She walked along the trail in to the woods behind her house.

Rose walked until she found the old graveyard. She was the only one she knew that knew about it. She ran out here when she needed to be alone or just felt like being outside. Remus didn’t like being far from the house or leaving the plains, so he didn’t bother her out here. She didn’t know when the graveyard had been first been made or who any of the graves belonged to. Most of the graves were old and unmarked, but some of them had appeared during the time Rose had been there. They were still unmarked, and Rose never saw whoever dug the graves.

Rose had never gone to the graveyard at night, though.

The graveyard wasn’t difficult to find, as long as you knew which of the many forks in the faded, poorly-marked trail to take. The night noises of the forest slipped around Rose in strangely comforting ways. She stepped in to the clearing and stared.

“I said she said he said Rose, it’s Rose, do you have a story tonight?”

“Who are you?” she asked. Translucent shapes in all shades of unnatural colors wove along the night sky and half-naked branches of the forest.

“I said she said he said we’re spirits, we’re the lost ones, we’re like you.”

“You listen to my stories?” Rose asked, trying to get her mind to wrap around the shapes in front of her.

“I said she said he said of course, we love your stories, it’s the highlight of our days.”

“How much do I get right?”

“I said she said he said not much, your versions are better, it doesn’t have to be right to be entertaining.”

“I’m glad you like them.”

“I said she said he said of course, what brings you out at night, usually you come in daylight.”

Rose looked at the ground. Her reason for coming out here seemed so stupid now that she could see all these spirits. She wanted to keep talking to them.

“I’m running away,” she said finally.

“I said she said he said where will you go, we’ll be sad to see you go, will you visit us.”

“I don’t know where I’m going. I think I’ll come back some day, though,” Rose replied.

“I said she said he said we’ll be here when you’re ready, don’t forget us, have fun.”

“Thank you,” Rose said. She looked around. Her plan had been to hide in the graveyard until she had a better plan, but it seemed rude to stay here. She could go anywhere she wanted. She didn’t want to go anywhere. Where could she go?

Rose’s vision disappeared. Something roared in her ears, and she felt something rising from her throat. Something shoved her, hard, then she was blinking away tears and swallowing bile. She was facing away from the graveyard and her house.

Rose turned so that the graveyard was on her left and the house was behind her. She started walking, and immediately her vision blacked out and she found herself with her back to the graveyard again. She tried to see where it could have come from, but the spirits had disappeared, leaving the forest far darker and more hostile than before.

“That way,” Rose whispered and started walking with her back to the graveyard.

*****

Logan knew exactly what he was doing when he set out. He had a goal, and he had a first step. The results of that first step would determine the next steps. He was prepared. He planned it out for a week. It was mid fall, so he knew the light snow falling now was here to stay. He packed clothing for cold weather, a compass, and all the food he could gather over the week without raising suspicion, as well as a first-aid kit. He wrestled it all in to a backpack, strapped on a bedroll and tent, and left in the dead of night, leaving the bag under his window loosely buried in snow so he could retrieve it later.

Logan’s first destination was the morgue. He knew exactly what was in there: firewood. No one had died recently, so no bodies were sheltered inside it waiting for weather that permitted a fire. That was a lie: someone had died recently, but it had been in a fire, and as such there had been no body to burn.

Logan wasn’t interested in the morgue itself. The morgue was built near a cave system that had a goblin colony that was fairly easy for humans to access.

Logan pushed himself in to the narrow crevice and crawled through the tunnel until it opened up in to a large chamber. The clinking that had guided him on stopped.

“Intruder.” “Trespasser.” “Invader.” “Interloper.”

“Hello. As you already know, I am a human. I have come to request to trade knowledge for goods,” Logan said, shaking the small bag he had brought with him. It was filled with a variety of trinkets and a little bit of the food he had scavenged.

“Trade?” “Knowledge?” “Know?” “Have?”

“I would like to know how one would remove their capacity to feel emotions,” Logan said, tightening his grip on his bag.

“Human already has.” “Dangerous.” “Shouldn't.” “Look forward.”

“Please help me.” Logan felt something brush against his hand.

“South.” “Until you find a girl.” “And a chair.” “That moves.”

“Any way at all.” “A demon with purple hair.” “The last member of your party.” “Never stay more than a night in a single place.”

“Danger awaits you.” “On your heels.” “Can’t outrun it.” “Can’t hide from it.”

“Thank you for helping me,” Logan said and set the bag on the ground before turning back towards the entrance. He could feel eyes on his back, as he left. He walked to his window and uncovered his pack. He swung it on to his back and walked back to the morgue. He dug his compass out and aligned it, then faced south.

Logan disappeared in to the silence of a slight breeze and drifting snowflakes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 0  
> Logan: 0 Miles  
> Rose: 1 Mile


	3. Cerebrate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cerebrate(V): To use the mind:think

Logan’s feet crunched on the freshly fallen snow. Walking in a light snowfall was peaceful, and it was still warm enough to breathe with minimal discomfort. He wondered if he truly needed all the snow equipment he had packed, especially because he was going south, but he kept walking. The goblins said to keep moving and go south, so that was what he was doing. He wouldn’t take the risk of returning and being stopped by someone, especially since people would start waking up soon.

Logan could picture their faces clearly, and they were filled with pity. Logan detested pity. If he ate a berry for every time someone came by his home, no, his par-, no, the house. 

_This is what I chose, right?_

If he ate a berry for every time someone came by the house with that pitying look on their face he would have stripped the entire forest of berries by now. Honestly: probably not. There were a lot of berries in the forest, and he had never explored the entirety of it.

Logan adjusted his bag. He was leaving, and that was that. He pushed his tongue in to the roof of his mouth to keep himself from crying. He was leaving. The only thing that mattered was that fact. He. Was. Leaving.

He wondered how far he would have to walk until he found the girl that the goblins talked about. What did the goblins mean by a chair that moved? Any chair could technically move, but he thought it unlikely that the goblins would specify that the chair could move if it was a normal chair.

The sun started to rise to his left, painting the snow in the sparse gaps between the shadows of the trees orange. The early risers of his settle-the settlement would already be awake and starting to prepare for the day.

_I’m the only one left with any medical knowledge._

Logan paused. It wasn’t too late to go back. He could pick some berries and just say he couldn’t fall asleep, so he decided to go berry picking.

No. There were other settlements who had knowledgeable people and who were reachable by hippogriff. They were not in danger, and Logan was not supposed to care, and a half-trained, overly emotional child could not care for a village.

Logan walked on faster, as if he could drown his thoughts in the movement of his body and the crunch of powdery snow beneath his feet.

The sun rose higher, turning the sky blue and shortening the shadows. Logan never heard any footsteps that didn’t belong to him. He never saw any shadows that didn’t belong to the trees or a bird. He was alone. That thought wasn’t supposed to make him sad. This was exactly why he left, and sadness and emotion just got in the way, “STARS CURSE THEM!”

Logan stood alone in the forest, his shout ringing in his ears. No footsteps came closer. No alarmed faces looked to him. His mother didn’t peek in to his room. His father didn’t ask if Logan needed help. Elle didn’t quietly make him a cup of tea and ask if he wanted to talk.

A bird chirped somewhere to his right. The trees rustled in the wind. The sun kept slowly climbing the sky.

“Stars curse me,” Logan whispered to the indifferent frozen forest. He shifted his pack and adjusted his goggles. He double checked that he was still facing south and kept walking. He fought back his hunger and exhaustion. The feelings of a body being pushed beyond its ideal circumstances were far superior feelings to focus on and have than emotions. He would eat, then sleep when it was dark again. It wouldn’t be that long; it was fall, after all.

A wind kicked up right in his face, as if the world was trying to tell Logan to turn back. It was a ridiculous sentiment, of course. Wind was caused by warm and cool air mixing. It had nothing to do with the world trying to stop someone. Even if it did, Logan highly doubted that the world would be bothered by a single person traveling alone and doubted that it would only use a small wind.

Logan shook his head and walked on faster. Such thought exercises and fantasies were useless.

The sunset found Logan double checking that he pitched his tent correctly and eating a small dinner. He hadn’t been able to get a lot of food, so he needed to find either a town where he could buy food or stop to hunt and forage.

Logan crawled in to his bed roll, mulling over the problem. He didn’t want to waste time hunting or foraging when the goblins specified to keep moving. He could just keep walking and scan the ground for things he knew were edible. He would certainly miss some, but it seemed like the best compromise until he found a town.

Logan stared at the darkness of the tent wall and listened to the wind outside. The familiar sounds of the forest seemed so much closer and more sinister. The close part was understandable because he was in a tent in place of a house, but the sounds of the wind and the creaking of trees certainly bore him no ill will.

Logan sighed. He wished he had an off switch for his thoughts, and a separate one for emotions. If he had a switch to turn off his thoughts would he ever think to turn it back on?

_Useless flights of whimsy,_ Logan thought and rolled over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 1  
> Logan: 28 Miles


	4. Imagination

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Imagination(N): 2a Creative ability: 2b Ability to confront and deal with a problem: 2c A creation of the mind

Rose’s trepidation grew with every step she took. This wasn’t like the stories. She wasn’t coming out here seeking out a cursed artifact, or buried treasure, or stopping some evil force. She didn’t have magic or a wise teacher to guide her. She was just a little girl in the woods.

Rose stopped. She could go back to her house and no one would be the wiser. She could go back to her stories and her bed. She frowned as she remembered the inedible mush that her mom cooked most days and the loud sounds Remus made.

Maybe Rose could just go back and make a better plan, or she could go back to the spirits. They seemed to like her pretty well. Maybe she could find out who dug the graves! That would be a fun mystery to solve. That would be worthy of a story and keep her close to home.

Rose turned back towards the graveyard.

_Mushed beans, plastic wheels of a toy cart, dirt that seemed to crawl under her skin and wouldn’t come out no matter how much she scrubbed, sweat, the air when it was just warm enough to make wearing a jacket uncomfortable but just cool enough to make not wearing a jacket uncomfortable, skin being pushed back from the nail, falling,_

“Hello?”

_**TOO LOUD LOUD LOUD** _

**_TOO CLOSE CLOSE CLOSE_ **

Rose shoved the thing on her shoulder away.

Rose wasn’t sure how much time passed, but eventually she uncurled herself, brushing leaves and dirt off of her side and cleaning her face as best as she could on her jacket sleeve. Someone was looking at her. Rose dropped her gaze from his eyes. His shoes were dirty, but they didn’t look beaten up. That was probably because he was sitting in a chair with wheels on it. He was playing with the sleeves of a jacket he had wrapped around his shoulder. His pants and shirt looked soft and loose, and the cartoon cat on his shirt managed to make her feel a little better. Rose could barely make out the soft curls of his hair against the dark backdrop of the forest.

“Sorry,” she made herself mumble when she felt vaguely capable of speech again.

“No, no, it’s alright. Are you hurt?” the man asked.

“No,” Rose replied. The sound of their voices still felt like ceramic dishes shattering in her ears, but she didn’t want to worry the man.

“I’m glad you’re alright. I’m Patton, by the way.”

“Rose.”

“You have a very pretty name, Rose.”

“Thanks,” Rose said. Why would someone compliment her name? She didn’t pick it out.

“I’m a little lost. Do you know where the closest town is?” Patton asked.

Rose paused. She was probably facing the way the mysterious force wanted her to, which meant that the graveyard was directly behind her, but she didn’t even know which side of the graveyard was to her back. She could figure it out if she went back to the graveyard, but she didn’t want to incur the wrath of the mysterious force again, and she didn’t want to send Patton off in the wrong direction.

“No,” Rose said.

“Well, maybe we can travel together for a bit?”

Rose blinked, not quite comprehending what Patton was saying, “Maybe we can travel together for a bit?”

“Yeah!” Patton said.

“Okay,” Rose said, “But we should sleep first. I can watch first.”

“Oh, no, you should sleep! I don’t mind keeping watch.”

“I want to watch first,” Rose said, _I won’t be able to sleep anyways._

“If you’re really sure, then alright. I’m going to sleep in my chair.”

“Okay,” Rose said. She sat down on the ground and listened to the forest. The trees rustled in the breeze, and somewhere in the distance an owl hooted. The air was cool, and Rose buttoned her jacket closed. The moon perched precariously above the wispy clouds, highlighting the outline of the almost-leafless trees. Rose looked back over at Patton. He didn’t look much older than her, but he acted a lot older. Rose tore a leaf that had fallen on the ground in to little pieces. The wind picked up, making Rose shiver a little. She looked up at the faint stars. She didn’t know any proper constellations, and the ones that she could recognize were probably mostly invisible behind the clouds, but she could see enough to draw her own lines between the stars. She found a unicorn, a dragon, and a griffon. They all overlapped on each other because of how few stars were visible, but that didn’t matter.

Maybe the unicorn, the dragon, and the griffon could be friends and go on an adventure. They could fly all over the place looking for things to put in the dragons hoard. The dragon would carry the unicorn because it couldn’t fly very well or far with just its magic, and the unicorn could enchant something to find gold. The griffon could be the smallest and help actually retrieve the gold because it could fit in to small spaces. Rose sat like that for the entire night, thinking up a story between the constellations and keeping a watchful ear on the forest that never gave her a reason to be suspicious of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 1  
> Rose: 2 miles  
> Patton: 23 miles


	5. Whimsy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whimsy(N): A fanciful or fantastic device, object, or creation, especially in writing or art.

Virgil stood in the complete silence that the genie dropped him in to.

_Did it take my hearing as payment? No, that’s the fae, not genies._

Something roared behind him, and Virgil forced himself to take a deep, shaky breath before turning around to face it.

It was a griffin. It was a very _angry_ looking griffin.

Before Virgil could debate how to respond to the griffin his attention was drawn to the human besides it. They presented overwhelmingly femininely. A revealing blue dress that matched their eyes was draped over their figure. Their hair was done up in an extravagant style that Virgil was surprised didn’t immediately collapse.

_Oh, that's not a human_. 6 fingers adorned each of its hands.

“Are you just going to ogle me or may I have your name?” the fae asked.

“You may not have my name,” Virgil replied instantly, the response that had been drilled in to his head despite the infinitesimal chance of meeting a fae in the desert springing to his lips.

“Hm, very well, but you must have a reason to enter this realm.”

Fuck, was Virgil in the fae realm? How did the genie think this was remotely what he asked for.

“My entry was not purposeful.”

“Oh? Then you would like to go home?”

“Are you offering me help?”

“Yes. I will guide you to the land of the mortals.”

“I appreciate your kindness,” Virgil said.

The wind rose again, and he stood on a mountain. The faery was gone, but there was a small faery ring in front of him. Virgil forced himself the breathe. The air was thin, although not to a dangerous level. Still, he needed to climb down the mountain.

The question was: How the hell could Virgil climb down the mountain? The mountain seemed almost like a podium or an arena. The tiny circle of rock Virgil and the faery ring stood on was surrounded by sheer cliffs that Virgil didn’t want to risk falling down. Virgil wondered if it would be easier to find a friendly faery than climb down. He didn’t want to be up here if the wind started to pick up.

Virgil wanted to scream and shout like a toddler. He contented himself with kicking a small rock off of the summit. A roar answered him.

_Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck_

A demon circled the podium.

_How the fuck are you supposed to interact with a demon?_

“I’d like to go home, please,” Virgil’s mouth said on its own.

_Probably not like that._

The demon slammed in to him, and Virgil was falling

Falling

Falling

Virgil was still alive. His bones were still impossibly intact. He wasn’t hurt at all. He pinched himself, and pain raced up his arm, but skimming his fingers over his back revealed nothing besides unbroken cloth. His hands weren’t coated in blood. Virgil was still alive. Virgil was alive and off of the mountain.

Virgil stared at the mountain as if it would answer all the half-formed questions that were racing around his head. Virgil squinted, as he spotted a bright sphere of light. Was that a star next to him?

Virgil looked up and caught a brief glimpse of the sun. The little star was still there when he blinked away the little remnants in his vision.

Virgil reached out and touched the star.

The star felt cold. It was a good cold. It was the cold of rain. It was the cold of a night. It was the cold of flight magic singing in the air around you, as you prepared for a hunt. It was the cold of possibilities.

There was another star on the horizon, shining brightly despite the sun. Virgil checked himself for injuries again, as if any new ones would appear. Virgil’s body was whole and functional.

Virgil was reminded of a folk tale that changed details every time it was told. It was about a woman witch who lived in a far off land where people were scared of witches. The witch took any witches who were born in the land and took them to her house to raise as her own. She suckled them on moonlight, and they grew strong. When the witch was old and could no longer care for her children the children bore her across the sea and settled in the desert where no one could find them and harm them. It was said that the witch was so happy to see her children safe and happy that when she died she went in to the night sky and became all of the stars so that she could always watch and guide her children.

Virgil didn’t know how to navigate using the stars. Barely anyone did because it was so much easier to just mark the path with barriers.

A tiny corner of his brain told Virgil that these stars lead home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 2  
> Virgil: ??? Miles


	6. Conjoin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Conjoin(V): To join together (things, such as separate entities) for a common purpose

Logan woke up and stepped out of his tent, stretching and looking around at the forest. Nothing had changed about the area, except a little bit of snow might have fallen during the night: less than an inch if it did.

Logan made quick work of eating breakfast and dismantling his tent. He aligned his compass and continued walking south.

_How did I not realize there was a settlement this nearby?_

Logan had barely taken twenty steps before he could see houses through the trees. They were built strangely, but they looked to be structurally sound, if impractical due to their height.

Logan glanced through his coin purse. He could probably buy a decent amount of food for it, assuming prices roughly correlated with prices in his-the settlement. He guessed that they would based on the amount of vegetation around the settlement.

Logan walked through the town. The buildings warped and shifted, but there was no way for him to keep his bearings. If it weren’t for his compass and the changing houses he would have thought he was walking in circles. The houses seemed to be set up in a rough grid shape, and they had signs stating the name of the street, but that information wasn’t very useful without a detailed map of the town.

The sun was setting by the time Logan hit the far edge of the town, and he never found any sort of market place, or store, as he remembered learning was custom in certain settlements, that sold food. Now he had the options of disobeying what the goblins said and staying there to find supplies or moving on without supplies. Logan still had a decent amount of food, but he also didn’t recognize the trees on this side of the town and doubted he could correctly identify edible plants from them.

Logan glanced up at the sound of wheels bouncing along the cobbled stone road, expecting some sort of cart.

It was a chair. It was a chair with wheels that was moving because someone was sitting in it and moving the wheels. The man in the chair was followed by a girl.

The man and the girl looked fairly similar, but more in the sense that they didn’t share many traits with Logan than similarities between each other. Both of them had skin several shades darker than his own and eyes a couple shades darker than that. The girl’s hair was light brown, long, and unrestricted by any sort of braid or tie, and the man’s almost-black hair was cut just long enough for a strand to fall to the rim of his glasses.

_A girl and a chair that moves. Is that it? What am I supposed to do now? The goblins just said to-_

“Hey!” the man in the chair said, cutting off his thoughts.

“Hello,” Logan responded. Both the man and the girl wore loose clothing that looked like it would do nothing to stop any sort of bad weather, but clearly did due to their apparent comfort despite the thin layer of snow on the ground.

“Do you know if there’s any sort of inn nearby that we can stay at?”

“I think you’ve mistaken me. I am a traveler, and I do not know anything about this town,” Logan said. He felt a little dizzy with exhilaration.

“Oh, well, where are you headed?” the man in the chair asked. Logan wanted to examine his chair. It looked so simple: a chair that was altered to admit wheels and steering that could be done while seated in the chair. He wondered why the man was in the chair. Logan couldn’t get a good look at him in the crepuscular light.

“I do not have a specific destination. I am merely traveling. Where are you traveling to?”

“Oh, we’re the same way, actually! Is it lonely to travel alone?” the man asked.

“I have not been traveling long, so I have not experienced any effects of isolation.”

“Are you meeting up with anyone?”

“No.”

“Do you want to come with us?”

Logan thought for a moment. The goblins said just to find them, but Logan was fairly sure he was meant to stay with them. It was entirely possible that they would slow him down, but the goblins said just to keep moving after meeting up with them, so he was fairly sure it was alright.

“Yes, I would like to travel with you. My name is Logan,” he said, blinking at how easy it was.

“I’m Patton!”

“My name is Rose,” the girl said.

“Alright, let’s go find an inn,” Patton said, wheeling toward the town. Logan considered speaking up and redirecting them, but all the excitement was still coursing through his system. He tried to shove it down as he walked. It was not logical to get this excited because something that he was told would happen happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 2  
> Logan: 34 Miles  
> Rose: 12 Miles  
> Patton: 33 Miles


	7. Connect

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Connect(V): To have or establish a rapport
> 
> Warning: Panic attack, heavy swearing

Fuck rain.

Virgil used to love rain. When it rained it meant you could sit outside and drink water from the air, then afterwards the desert would be colorful and you could run through the petals from seeds that had lain dormant since whenever the last rainfall had been. Heck, now he had hair the color of desert bells, which only showed up after heavy rainfalls.

This was nothing like that. This rain was frigid and soaked through every bit of clothing that Virgil was wearing, and it never stopped. It would stop for just long enough for Virgil to start having some hope of being warm again, then dump more water on him. His feet made the worst squelching sound, as he trekked through the over-watered soil. The ground was not supposed to suck at your toes.

Virgil had tried to make a barrier and walk across it, but apparently barriers, which were made of magic and had no weight, were too heavy to float on top of the swamp. He was one more squelching footstep away from flipping off the star and letting the swamp claim him.

“Oh, thank the gods,” Virgil muttered, as he spotted a village. He stumbled the last steps on to stone and snatched the star up. He shivered at the sensation of cold. The cold of the star was far less welcome when he was already shivering. At least the star was a dry cold. He looked around for barriers and saw none.

_Maybe these people didn’t use barriers because of the bog?_

All the buildings looked to be in good condition, if oddly constructed. He reached through defense and in to flight.

Virgil sped along the walk, squinting at the signs that seemed to serve the same purpose as barriers, although they were much less descriptive than barriers. He finally found what he was looking for: Avel’s Inn and Tavern.

Virgil pushed open the door and glanced around. The place was so packed that he couldn’t see a single table that was completely empty. In fact, the only open chair he could see at all belonged to a tiny table in the back with three people around it. Virgil weighed his options: He could go back out in to the rain or suck it up and ask if he could sit by the three people in the back.

Virgil sucked it up and pushed through the crowd.

“Can I sit here?” Virgil asked.

“Of course!” the person sitting closest to him replied. Their hair was impossibly fluffy for all the rain. They must have been sitting in here a while to get it that dry. There was silence between the four of them. Virgil looked down at the table. Maybe he would have been better off in the rain.

“I’m Patton,” the person with fluffy hair said. What were they thinking just telling Virgil their name right off the bat? Did they expect Virgil to give his name right off the bat? Would it be rude if he still introduced himself as V?

“I’m V,” Virgil said before he could overthink it any more. He opened his mouth to say his pronouns, but the h seemed to lodge in his throat, “No pronouns,” he managed to choke out. He tried to keep his face disconnected as he panicked. Virgil panicked? Why did Virgil feel so weird about saying the pronouns he had used without problem for 16 years?

“My name is Logan, he/him,” the person sitting against the wall said. He had a giant pack that looked like it could eat Virgil as an appetizer.

“I’m Rose,” the final person said. Their eyes didn’t quite lift all the way to make eye contact with Virgil.

“Patton’s pronouns are he/him and Rose’s pronouns are she/her,” Logan said after a short pause. They sat in relative silence again.

“So, V, are you traveling?” Patton asked.

“Yes,” Virgil replied.

“Where to?”

“I’m returning to my home,” Virgil said. Honestly the swamp seemed farther from Virgil’s home than the mountains, but Virgil hoped Virgil was going the right way.

“Where do you live?” Patton asked.

“Panula.”

“I’ve never heard of that place before,” Logan said, “Where is it?”

“The north east part of the Semts desert.”

“Oh,” Logan said, “That’s a very long journey.”

Virgil blanched and tried to keep Virgil’s voice steady. “Where are we?”

“We’re in the foothills of the Arrus mountain range.”

_Shit. Where are the Arrus mountains? Maybe he means the Arcus mountains? Regional thing?_

“The Arcus mountains?”

“Yes, the Arrus mountains.”

“I guess I took a wrong turn a day or so back. Oh well,” Virgil tried to brush it off. Virgil could feel Virgil’s breath hitching in Virgil’s chest, “I’m...sorry...Ineedtogo.”

Virgil rushed back in to the rain. Virgil didn’t care where Virgil was going other than ‘away’. A second stretched on for a year, as Virgil felt Virgil’s foot slip off of the wooden walkway and in to the swamp. Virgil scrambled back on to dry-ish land, trying to get Virgil’s breathing back under control. Virgil had expected to be a week’s worth of travel away at most, not across the entire continent. How much could happen just while he was walking? No wonder everyone looked and acted so strangely.

_No one will remember me._

_I’ll die on the way_

_The stars are leading me the wrong way_

_Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck_

“V?”

_They’re going to kill me_

“V, kiddo, can I hug you?”

Virgil shook Virgil’s head.

“I’m going to count. Try to breathe with it, okay, kiddo? In, 2, 3, 4, hold, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, out, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.”

Virgil slowly copied the pattern. It took Virgil a couple tries to get enough air in to Virgil’s lungs to make it through all the hold and out counts, but finally Virgil calmed down enough that Virgil could just breathe normally. Virgil looked up at the person who had calmed Virgil down.

Patton.

_Fuck._

“Hey, V.”

“Thanks, P,” Virgil replied. Virgil knew Patton had given Virgil his full name, but it felt so wrong to use Patton’s name out loud.

“Logan’s getting us some rooms at the inn. Do you want to stay with us tonight?”

Virgil hesitated. They could easily move against Virgil when they were in a private space, but Virgil didn’t like the idea of staying outside with no where to go other than the swamp.

“Yeah,” Virgil said, but stood up without taking Patton’s offered hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 3  
> Logan: 35 Miles  
> Rose: 13 Miles  
> Patton: 34 Miles  
> Virgil: 2,543 Miles


	8. Charm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Charm(N): 1b A practice or expression believed to have magic power

Virgil slowly pushed open the door to the room they were staying in. Logan had taken one look at Virgil and Patton when they came back and told Virgil where the showers were. When Virgil had brought up that Virgil had nothing besides Virgil’s mud-soaked clothing Logan had given Virgil some of his own clothing.

Virgil was pretty sure that the sleeves of the sweater Logan had given Virgil wouldn’t cover Logan’s hands if he was wearing it, but at least his clothes were soft and warm.

Virgil held Virgil’s muddy clothes in a ball at arms-length to avoid ruining his clothes.

“Thanks for letting me borrow your clothes,” Virgil said, bumping the door shut with Virgil’s hip.

“It is not a problem,” Logan replied, “Now, there are two beds in this room, and the inn keeper is cleaning another room with two beds that we may stay in. The most logical arrangement is two of us in each room, if everyone is comfortable with that.”

Patton and Rose nodded.

“Alright, then. Who would like to sleep in each room?”

“I want to sleep with Patton,” Rose said quietly.

“That works for me!” Patton replied.

“Are you comfortable sleeping in the same room as me, V?” Logan asked. Virgil didn’t really want to share a room with someone Virgil didn’t know, but Virgil nodded anyways. Somehow it was decided that Logan and Virgil would take the room that was being cleaned. They sat in silence.

“Are you guys traveling, too?” V asked.

“Yeah. We’re just kind of wandering around for the sake of the journey,” Patton replied, “What brought you this far east?”

Virgil paused to think. Virgil had been sick, so Virgil hadn’t seen much, and Virgil had forgotten what little Virgil had known. Virgil remembered the smell of wood burning coming from the wrong direction. Virgil was pretty sure someone hit Virgil pretty hard, because the next thing Virgil remembered was being in the back of the truck and having a massive headache.

“It’s a pilgrimage,” Virgil lied.

“It must be a long pilgrimage if you managed to get here from the Semts desert,” Logan said.

“Well, the idea is you drive out and then walk back. It’s only takes a couple days to drive across the continent, although usually you get dropped off somewhere in the plains,” Virgil shrugged.

“Oh, you live where there are cars?” Logan asked.

“Yeah. Do you guys...not?”

“No, we don’t use cars.”

“I know why! Cars need roads to work, and it would take a lot of agreements with other creatures to build a road between villages instead of trails,” Rose said.

“They work fine on barriers,” Virgil said.

“Are those like roads?” Rose asked.

“No, here,” Virgil replied and reached through defense to make small barrier. They stared at it.

“That’s fascinating. How do you make that?” Logan asked, reaching forward the gently touch the glowing surface.

“It’s basic defense magic,” Virgil whispered. Logan looked older than Virgil. How did he not know? Someone knocked on the door.

“Room next door is ready for you,” someone shouted, then heavy footsteps led away.

“How do you use magic?” Rose asked. She pushed a strand of hair that had fallen in her face away and reached out to touch the barrier.

_I am not qualified for this_ , Virgil thought, then reached back in to defense, concentrating on how it felt.

“It feels like going inside yourself and being a little smaller. There’s a little tightness, and if you stretch it you can reach your hand inside and take a barrier out,” Virgil said.

Virgil watched, as Rose closed her eyes. She waved her hand around a few times, looking frustrated. A little bit later a tiny red bubble appeared in her hand. She opened her eyes just in time to see the bubble roll off of her hand and dissipate on the floor.

“Was that it?”

“Basically. If you do it a bunch you get a better feel for making them harder or bigger.”

“How big can you make a barrier?”

“There’s no strict upper limit, but barriers bigger than their creator take a lot of energy to maintain,” Virgil replied, practically quoting Virgil’s teacher.

“If you’re comfortable with it, could you show us a barrier as big as you?” Logan asked.

Virgil took a deep breath and removed Virgil’s previous barriers. Virgil stood up and reached through defense. Virgil decided at the last second to go the extra mile. A barrier snapped in to existence around Virgil. It was completely transparent and solid. Virgil watched, as Logan put his hand on the barrier with an expression of amazement. Virgil kept it there for a few moments longer. Virgil could see Patton’s mouth moving, but Virgil had managed to make it so hard that sound didn’t make it through. Virgil was slightly impressed with that, but Virgil could feel it draining Virgil’s energy already. Virgil released the barrier, and Virgil’s ears popped, as the pressure equalized.

“Sorry, I didn’t catch any of what you were saying,” Virgil said.

“Oh, I was just saying how cool it is!” Patton said.

“Indeed, but we should go to our separate rooms to sleep, so we may get the optimum amount of sleep while waking early.”

“Can’t we sleep in a bit?” Patton pouted.

“Everyone knows it’s best to go early to get the best selection at the market.”

“I don’t think the stores will run out of stuff that we can travel with.”

Logan was silent for a moment, and Virgil could practically see the gears turning in his head.

“Right. I forgot we were this far south for a moment. It is still ideal to sleep now so that daylight hours fall during our walking time, especially because there is very little snow right now.”

“Fine,” Patton said in mock annoyance.

Virgil and Logan stood up and got their stuff. Virgil once again held Virgil’s muddy clothes at arms length to keep Logan’s clothes clean. Logan opened the door and put his gargantuan pack down at the foot of one of the beds. Virgil dumped Virgil’s clothes unceremoniously on the floor and climbed in to the other bed. Virgil was asleep before Logan could even turn off the lights.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 3  
> Logan: 35 Miles  
> Rose: 13 Miles  
> Patton: 34 Miles  
> Virgil: 2,543 Miles


	9. Dawn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dawn(N): 1 The first appearance of light in the morning followed by sunrise 2 Beginning

Rose woke up first. She had always been an early riser, so she wasn’t surprised to see Patton still asleep across from her. She hummed a little to herself, as she debated what to do until the others woke up, then remembered that apparently she could do _magic._

Rose closed her eyes and reached in to herself. She got smaller and smaller until she reached a little tense bit deep inside her brain. She reached towards it, but it flitted away before she could do anything. She followed it through her brain and reached towards it again. This time her hand passed through and she pulled back, snapping her eyes open.

A little bubble balanced precariously in her hand. It wobbled, then broke in a small burst of warm air. Rose reached inside herself and managed to get to the right spot on the first try. She tried to stay in the little tense spot for longer.

_Solid bubble, solid bubble, solid bubble_ , she repeated to herself, then pulled back and opened her eyes. A tiny bead sat in her hand. It was only about the size of her pinky nail. It disappeared in another pop of warm air.

Rose kept making little barriers until Logan knocked on the door. A bubble the size of her palm rolled off of her hand and disappeared when Rose got up to open the door.

“Patton is still sleeping,” she told Logan.

“Alright,” Logan said with a nod and walked over to Patton. Rose sat back down on the bed to wait until they were ready. She double checked that everything was in her little backpack, which was unnecessary because she hadn’t even opened it, but it made her feel a bit calmer. Patton was ready by the time Rose had managed to stuff all of her things back in to her backpack.

V, Logan, Patton, and Rose walked down the restaurant part of the inn. Logan ordered and paid for some food, and they took a seat at one of the tables. The restaurant was much less was much less crowded than it had been last night, which Rose was thankful for.

“I suggest we discuss where we’d like to go while we wait for our food. Patton, do you know how to find a store with food?”

“We can probably ask the inn keep for directions,” Patton said.

“Excellent. Now, V, would it be acceptable is we traveled with you?”

V looked at Logan, “I’m going across the continent on foot.”

“We’re aware of that,” Logan replied.

“It takes weeks on foot.”

“That’s true. I don’t understand what you’re trying to say.”

“You want to walk for 36ish weeks there with a total stranger.”

“I would call it two seasons, but yes.”

“All three of you?”

“Absolutely!” Patton said.

“Yes,” Rose replied. She hoped the mysterious force wouldn’t interrupt her, because she really wanted to learn more magic from V.

“You know what? Fine. But I don’t think we’ll be going by many towns.”

“That is fine by me.”

Rose was a little worried. She didn't like the idea of spending a lot of time in the open. She fidgeted with the hem of her shirt. Then again, the mysterious force was guiding her, so maybe it would be okay.

Just then their food came. Rose looked down at what was put in front of her. It was some bread, a sauce of some sort that Patton was putting all over his bread, and some sort of juice. She sipped the juice: probably apple and some other berry she didn’t recognize, then ate a bit of the bread.

Oh. That was _good._

The bread was sweet and soft. She ripped off a bit and tried dipping it in the sauce, which was sweet, too. It felt warm and good. Rose had finished eating everything on her plate before she realized it. She was a bit overfull, but she didn’t care. She waited, as everyone else finished, licking the last of the sweet sauce off of her fingers. The stickiness was annoying, but it was worth it.

Logan quietly pointed out a place where Rose could wash her hands. Shopping went quickly, and V started to lead the way out of town before the sun was completely over their heads. They walked in silence at first. V lead the way with Rose and Patton walking right behind V and Logan bringing up the rear. They reached the edge of the town pretty quickly, and V went straight in to the underbrush, ignoring the road that ran in the exact same direction.

“Hey, V,” Patton called out.

“What?” V asked, turning around.

“Wouldn’t it be easier to take the road?”

V looked at the road, then muttered something that Rose couldn’t make out and moved on to the road. The silence was more noticeable now that there weren’t other people around making sound. Silence wasn’t right. Adventuring was supposed to be fun and filled with laughter.

“Patton, what’s your favorite joke?”

“Oo, why do flamingos sleep with one leg up?”

“Why?” Rose asked.

“Because if they slept with both legs up they would fall over!”

Rose didn’t quite know how it was funny, but she still felt herself laughing. Patton kept telling them bad jokes, as they walked in to the sunrise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 4  
> Logan: 52 Miles  
> Rose: 30 Miles  
> Patton: 51 Miles  
> Virgil: 2,560 Miles


	10. Divergence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Divergence(N): A deviation from a course or standard

Patton rolled over and looked up when he was gently shaken awake.

“Good morning, Logan,” He yawned.

“Good morning, Patton,” Logan replied, then moved away to wake Rose.

The sun wasn’t even in the sky yet; The only hint of a sunrise was a slight yellow band on the horizon. Patton rubbed his eyes, grabbed his glasses, wiped them down with the edge of his shirt, and put them on. Patton was tempted to just stay in his little cocoon of warmth, but he made himself crawl out of his sleeping bag and towards his wheelchair.

_And now the fun part,_ Patton grimaced. How could a chair look so tall?

He managed to get himself in to the right position, then looked back up at the mountain that was his wheelchair.

_Come on, Pat, you’ve done this before. You can do it!_

“Do you require assistance?” Logan asked.

“No, thanks! I got it,” Patton said, transferring in to his chair and getting in to a comfortable position. Logan picked up Patton’s sleeping bag before he could move to roll it up. Patton took his pack from Logan and strapped it on to his chair.

V and Rose were already be ready to go, and Logan swung his pack on to his back, saying, “I believe we are ready to start moving.”

“Okay,” V said, and V started walking. They quickly fell in to the formation they had walked in the day before. Patton smiled, as he remembered yesterday. He had gotten on a roll with puns and jokes, and Rose cracked up at almost every one. He had even gotten a few snorts from V, although Logan had groaned at every one. Patton was pretty sure Logan wasn’t as bothered by his jokes as he acted, though.

“So, what’s everyone’s favorite songs?” Patton asked.

“I don’t usually listen to music, but there are some traditional songs sung in my settlement that I enjoy,” Logan said. The road curved slightly, and Patton barely noticed in time to turn.

“What about you, Rose?” Patton asked. He looked to his side, but Rose was standing uneasily at the spot before the road curved away.

“Are you alright, Rose?” Logan asked.

“Yes,” Rose said, shaking her head a little bit and turning. She froze before screaming, turning jerkily to face the way she had been before. Her scream stopped before Patton could even reach her or Logan could really react.

“What was that?” V asked.

“It was Rose screaming,” Logan replied simply.

“No, I got that bit. Why?”

Rose got to her feet, rocking a bit.

“Do you want a hug, kiddo?”

“Not right now. For now we need to go this way,” Rose said and started walking in to the forest.

“It is the right way,” V shrugged and followed her.

“Rose,” Logan started, then stopped. Patton could see his frustration and confusion on his face.

“Let’s ask her about it later, okay, kiddo?” Patton said, giving Logan a comforting smile.

“How old are you?” Logan asked.

“I’m 19, but why does my age matter?”

“I’m 3 years older than you,” Logan said, adjusting his goggles.

“Oh, is this about calling you kiddo? I won’t call you that if it make you uncomfortable.”

“Please refrain from calling me that.”

“Alrighty, I won’t, but we should catch up to V and Rose.”

“That is true,” Logan said, sighing before stepping off of the path. Patton slid the lever to make himself float just high enough to clear the debris on the ground while not bumping in to the lower branches of the trees. Logan stopped, staring at Patton.

“How is that possible?”

“Let’s move and talk. I got a genie to enchant my wheelchair to make it fly.”

“Can your wheelchair do anything else due to the genie?”

“No, I just asked to be able to fly,” Patton replied.

“May I ask what your other two wishes were?”

“I asked to set the genie free and to see my friends again.”

“Was Rose one of them?”

“No,” Patton said, slowing slightly, as they were now within sight of V and Rose.

“May I ask what happened?”

“Maybe later. It’s not a very happy story,” Patton said. He looked over at Logan, but he didn’t seem to notice: focusing on the path under his feet.

“I would still like to hear it if you want to tell it.”

“Like I said, maybe later. Now, my turn to ask questions: how did you end up traveling?”

“In your words, it’s not a very happy story,” Logan said, flashing Patton what could have passed for a smile.

Patton smiled a little but didn’t respond. He let the silence stand for a moment, then sped up to rejoin Rose and V.

“Neither of you did say your favorite songs,” he said lightly.

“I can’t pick just one of my favorites! I like a lot of the songs that have stories in them and people sing on stage,” Rose replied.

“Oo, can you sing us some?”

“Of course!” Rose replied, humming a little before she started singing a song about a bunch of bards starting on a journey that sounded vaguely familiar to Patton. He strummed along to the tune on an imaginary banjo, and Patton could hear V humming under V’s breath, as V caught on to the melody.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 5  
> Logan: 68 Miles  
> Rose: 46 Miles  
> Patton: 67 Miles  
> Virgil: 2,576 Miles


	11. Ambiguous

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ambiguous(Adj): Doubtful or uncertain, especially from obscurity or indistinctness

Virgil looked at the space beyond the ring of firelight. Patton had volunteered to take the first watch, but Virgil’s mind refused to accept that Virgil should be resting, instead opting to send Virgil fleeting glimpses of memory Virgil would have much preferred to leave buried in the recesses of Virgil’s mind.

“Having a hard time falling asleep?” Patton whispered. Virgil sat up and looked at him across the campfire.

“Yeah,” Virgil replied. Usually Virgil could fake being asleep and nobody noticed. “How can you tell?”

“You were really tense.”

“If you looked at me for long enough to notice that were you really keeping a diligent watch?” Virgil asked, scanning the forest.

“I don’t need my ears to notice how tense you are! Besides, we’re really far off the road. I don’t think bandits are that much of a problem, and any animals should be scared away by the fire.”

Virgil shrugged and tugged at the edge of Logan’s coat.

“Do you want to talk a bit?” Patton asked.

“About what?”

“Anything you want!”

“I’ll bite,” Virgil shrugged. It wasn’t like Virgil had anything better to do.

“Hm, you are the only one who hasn’t said what your favorite song is.”

“Uh, I don’t know if you’ve heard of it. I don’t even really know where it’s from, but I always hear someone singing it on market days.”

“Can you sing it?”

Virgil closed Virgil’s eyes. Virgil could clearly see the market in Virgil’s mind. Clothes in a plethora of different colors and states of wear brushed past each other, and people chatted over wares or in tiny corners of space they found. Virgil could barely hear the song being sung over the chatter of the market place.

“Sing it out, boy, you’ve got to see what tomorrow brings...” he sang quietly, hoping that Logan and Rose were deep sleepers, “...sing it for the world, sing it for the world,” V finished. Thankfully Logan and Rose were still asleep.

“Your voice is very pretty.”

“Thanks,” Virgil said, scanning the forest around them again and finding nothing worth noting.

“Do you sing a lot?” Patton asked.

“Not really. Do you sing?”

“Sometimes! I’m not very good at it, but the littler kiddos sometimes liked me to sing them to sleep.”

“Lullabies?” Virgil said. Patton did seem like the type to sing babies to sleep.

“Yeah. Want to hear one?”

“Sure,” Virgil shrugged.

“This old man, he played one, he played knick-knack on my thumb, with a knick knack paddywhack, give the dog a bone, this old man came rolling home. “This old man, he played two…”

*****

Virgil woke up to Logan shaking V’s shoulder again.

“G’Morning,” Virgil grumbled, pushing his hand away.

“Good morning,” Logan replied and moved away. Virgil sat up and glanced around. Patton and Rose were still asleep, although that wouldn’t remain true for long, as Logan moved to gently shake Patton’s shoulder. Virgil quickly went through the motions to pack everything up and get a sighting on the next star. It seemed to be closer to them than the other stars had been. Virgil stood on the edge of the little camp, waiting for them to finish.

Logan roughly covered the evidence of their camp, then nodded to Virgil.“I believe we should begin today’s travel.”

Virgil nodded back and started walking. It was quiet at first, then Patton and Rose starting talking about some play they had both seen. It sounded absurd. What Virgil got from their descriptions was that there was a girl who could talk to animals, someone hated her, she ate an apple from the person who hated her, got kissed by some random prince dude, and there were a bunch of dwarves there for some reason. Virgil didn’t think Virgil would like the play.

“My favorite pa-” Rose froze.

Virgil stopped and looked back.

“My favorite part was,” Rose started walking again, then stopped, rocking, “I have a bad feeling about this place.”

“It’s the right way unless you want to detour back to the road,” Virgil said, remembering what happened the last time they had traveled on the road.

“No, let’s keep going. But we can’t talk so that bad creatures don’t hear us.”

“Do you want to hold my hand, kiddo?” Patton asked Rose.

“Adventurers don’t hold hands.”

“My kind of adventurers do,” Patton mumbled. They kept walking. Virgil felt Virgil tensing, as they walked forward. Virgil brushed it off as Rose’s words getting to Virgil. Still, forests could hide a lot of things. Lots of things could hide in the desert where it was just sand, cacti, and rocks. What sorts of things could be hiding in a forest? Bandits? Ravenous animals?

_Star. Just get to the star. It’s not even that far._

Virgil summoned a small barrier just in case.

Apparently that was the wrong thing to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 6  
> Logan: 80 Miles  
> Rose: 58 Miles  
> Patton: 79 Miles  
> Virgil: 2,588 Miles


	12. Divided

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Divided(Adj): Separated by distance

Logan stared at the spot where the dryad rose out of the ground. He barely registered the movement of the roots before he felt V’s hand close around his and they were running. The wind whistled in his ears, and Logan had the feeling that they were moving much faster than he could ordinarily run.

“V!” Logan yelled, trying to be heard above the wind, as he ducked under a low hanging branch. V didn’t respond, and Logan risked a quick glance behind them.

“V, it’s not atta-That’s a dryadic forest!” Logan yelled, pulling away before V could kill them both. Logan stumbled and fell right as V ran full-force in to the first of the several hundred foot tall trees that marked the beginning of the forest. Logan checked around them for the dryad that had attacked them before and found nothing. He jogged the distance to V, who was gasping for breath against the tree, but hadn’t moved.

“V?” Logan said softly, sitting down on one of the tree’s roots. He softly touched V’s shoulder and was rewarded with a groan and a brief hint of a barrier pressed against his hand before it flickered out.

“It’s alright, V. It’s just me, Logan. I’m going to pick you up,” Logan informed V. He struggled to take off V’s pack, then put his own pack down and hefted V in to his arms. He walked a little ways in to the normal forest and gently set V down, then returned for their packs. Logan dug his first aid kit out of his pack and started looking over V. V didn’t seem to be seriously injured; Logan could only see a couple small tears in V’s clothes and one area where it had torn enough to give V a scrape. Logan cleaned and bandaged the small scrape, as V watched.

“Do you feel any injuries besides that scrape?” Logan asked.

“Everything kinda hurts...too much magic.”

“You probably have bruises from running in to the tree,” Logan said, “If you don’t think you’re seriously injured then we should find a safer place to rest.”

Logan sat back and put his kit back in to his pack. V slowly stood up and walked, although V still seemed unsteady. Logan silently picked up V’s pack.

“You can lean on me,” he offered. V immediately slumped in to Logan’s shoulder, and he slid his arm around V.

“Can you see where we need to go?” Logan asked. V pointed forward and a little to the left, and Logan started walking that way. Logan could feel V start to slowly slump from exhaustion.

Logan started walking a little bit slower, making sure to scan the forest for any sign of where the dryad, Rose, or Patton could have gone. Logan thought about what the goblins had said again. He had been told to find a girl, a chair that moved, and a demon. He had no doubt that Rose and Patton correlated to the first two objects on the list, and that left V to be a demon. Logan looked down at V. V looked much younger slumped against Logan’s side. V’s eyes weren’t even open, trusting Logan to guide them in the correct direction. Logan had a very hard time thinking V was a demon.

Logan scanned the ground again. They hadn’t run for a long time, so he should have at least seen evidence of the dryad’s movement, but he saw nothing.

_V has magic_ , Logan reminded himself. It wasn’t outside the realm of possibility that they had traveled much farther than they could have if they were just running.

V stumbled and almost fell. Logan steadied V and started looking around for a good place to rest. He walked in to a small clearing and helped V lay down. V squinted up at Logan, confusion written plainly across V’s face.

“I’m going to set up my tent and unroll our bedrolls, then we can go to sleep."

“But we need...” V started, trailing off.

“Rose and Patton are safe, and we’ll meet up with them tomorrow,” Logan assured V, hoping his words were true.

“Okay,” V said. Logan made quick work of setting up their camp. Logan handed V some food, and V ate as if V hadn’t seen any food in months. Logan ate more slowly, then tied their packs up out of reach of any curious wildlife.

“V, the tent is ready,” Logan said. V stumbled in to the tent without a comment and buried in to Logan’s bed roll. Logan wrote it off as exhaustion and climbed in to V’s bed roll, setting his goggles aside.

“You look weird without your goggles on.”

Logan jumped at V’s voice, having assumed V had already fallen asleep.

“Go to sleep, V,” Logan replied.

“Okay,” V said, curling up so that only a couple stubborn curls of purple hair poked out of the confines of the bed roll.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 6  
> Logan: 112 Miles  
> Virgil: 2,620 Miles


	13. Divided

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Divided(Adj): Separated in to parts or pieces

Patton did not enjoy the use of strong language, especially when there were children around. He was floating less than a foot behind two people who were younger than him.

Patton made no noise of protest when he heard a whispered curse from Logan.

A tree next to them grew taller than any tree Patton had ever seen. Roots rushed out across the ground, and Patton instinctively grabbed Rose, pulling her in to his lap and looking for Logan and Virgil. Rose scrambled for the inner rim of the wheel, and they wobbled in the air before the chair deposited them on the ground, hovering 5 feet above their heads. Rose scrambled to her feet and started running.

“Rose Picani!” Patton shouted, pulling himself in to a sitting position. A root raced along the ground next to him. Rose stumbled to a stop, then ran back and started trying to lift Patton, but he was far too heavy for her.

“The chair,” Patton said, “Push the lever all the way back.”

He cupped his hands to boost Rose up high enough to reach it. The chair fell to the ground.

“Rose, run,” Patton said, grabbing the front wheels.

Rose did, a root racing behind her. Patton pulled himself in to the chair as fast as possible and flew after her. It didn’t take long for Patton to catch up to Rose and hoist her in to his lap again. She struggled a little bit, then saw his face and calmed down. He pulled the wheelchair above the treeline, continuing to fly as fast as he could.

“What about Virgil and Logan?” Rose asked after a bit. Patton glanced behind them, but they seemed to have thrown off the dryad. In fact, the dryad has disappeared as fast as it had appeared.

“That’s where we’re going next, kiddo,” he said, turning the wheelchair around and ducking back under the treeline, slowing some to be able to dodge around the trunks. Patton kept going, but after flying for a couple minutes and seeing nothing he stopped and landed. Rose got off, looking around at the forest.

“Where did they go?” she asked.

“I think we ran in different directions, kiddo,” Patton said. Every tree looked the same as the one before it.

“And neither of us know which direction they went in, and V was the one guiding us and Logan is the one with the compass,” Rose said, looking around, too.

“You got it, kiddo,” Patton tried for lightheartedness, but he didn’t think he succeeded.

“Well, we do have the mysterious-force-that-makes-me-scream to help us out,” Rose said. Before Patton could even process that sentence, she started walking and immediately collapsed.

“Seriously? You’re just going to knock me down without showing me the correct direction?” Rose asked the air, then set off in a different direction with the same results.

“Kiddo-” Rose collapsed after trying another direction.

“Rose, I think it might be telling you to stay here.”

“But where’s the adventure in staying still and waiting for someone to rescue you?” Rose asked, walking in another direction, then collapsing on the ground screaming. Patton quickly wheeled over. Rose’s eyes snapped open, and she started walking in the direction she was facing. Rose screamed for a couple second, then stopped, staring in the same direction.

“Fine, then, mysterious-force. Have it your way. I’ll sit right here,” Rose huffed, crossing her arms.

“Rose, can I ask you something?” Patton said gently.

“What’s the question?” She asked, turning to face Patton.

“You said something about a mysterious fo-”

“Oh. I don’t know exactly what it is, but it first showed up right before you found me. It sent me off in the right direction, and now it gives me a bunch of bad feelings if I try to go the wrong way. That’s...why I scream,” Rose said, fidgeting with her shirt.

“Can you walk me through what happened?” Patton asked.

“Well, I went for a walk, then the mysterious force made me turn. I went in the direction it wanted me to, and when I decided to go back home, it stopped me, and then you found me"

“So what you’re saying is that there’s a force that’s keeping you from going home?”

“No.”

“But you just said you were trying to go home.”

“I guess it does, but I think it just wants me to adventure, and then go home.”

“Rose, kiddo, how do you know for sure?”

“I can feel it in my bones. Besides, V knows about magic and can probably explain it,” Rose replied, a smile finding its way back on to her face.

“Alright, if you’re sure,” Patton relented.

“Now can I ask you a question?” Rose asked.

“Sure!”

“Back when we were running you called me Rose Picani. Why?”

“Oh, shoot, I did, didn’t I?” Patton asked, debating how much he should share. He looked down at Rose, who was waiting patiently for his answer. _She deserves to know the whole truth._

“Well, my parents died when I was young, and I was picked up by a group called the Picanis. It was kind of like an orphanage, and we all kind of adopted the last name Picani and moved our actual last names to be middle names,” Patton said, searching her face for her reaction.

“You called me by you last name?” Rose asked.

“Basically, yeah,” Patton said. Rose was quiet for a minute.

“I won’t do it again if it makes you uncomfortable,” Patton said to break the silence.

“My full name is Rose Korinna Adis.”

“Mine is Patton Fepir Picani.”

They shook hands and settled in to wait for Logan and V.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 6  
> R0se: 59 Miles  
> Patton: 80 Miles


	14. Convergent

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Convergent(Adj): Tending to move towards one point or to approach each other

Virgil slowly stretched, as Virgil woke up. Virgil looked at the canvas roof over Virgil’s head.

Why was Virgil looking at canvas instead of the stars or the adobe ceiling of the nursery?

Virgil lept out of the sleeping bag, falling over someone else. Virgil fumbled in to defense, pulling out a barrier the size of Virgil’s thumb and brandishing it against the stranger.

“Virgil?” Logan asked, squinting up at Virgil.

“Oh,” Virgil said, letting the tiny, ineffectual barrier drop and feeling Virgil’s face heat up. Virgil sat back down and tried to surreptitiously look for the door to the tent.

“Are you feeling better?” Logan asked.

“What?”

“You do remembering running in to a-”

“Giant tree while running from the dryad despite the fact that the dryad wasn’t even chasing us anymore,” Virgil cut him off, burying Virgil’s face in Virgil’s hands.

“Yes, that.”

“I’m better, uh, sorry for ruining your clothes,” Virgil mumbled, then looked up again.

“I’m glad you’re better, and the clothes are not an issue.”

They sat in silence, and Virgil tried to find the exit again.

“I suppose if we are both awake we should continue walking,” Logan said, unfastening the door to the tent. Virgil shot outside, breathing in the cold air. The sun wasn’t up yet, but Logan made no comment about it, as he quickly took down their packs and threw Virgil’s sleeping bag to Virgil to roll up.

Virgil rolled up Virgil’s sleeping bag in the amount of time it took Logan to pack away the sleeping bag, tent, and stuff them in to his pack. Logan silently handed Virgil an energy bar, and Virgil started walking towards the next star.

It was strange walking in silence. Usually Rose and Patton filled the air with light banter that Virgil and Logan occasionally added on to.

Virgil had been with them for less than three days. How did Virgil already miss them so much?

“So...ever been chased by a dryad before?” Virgil asked. _That’s a bad opening question, who just asks someone they barely know if they’ve ever been attacked by a mons-_

“Yes, have you?” Logan replied.

“No.”

“I imagine it would be difficult to encounter a dryad in a desert.”

“Yeah, kind of,” Virgil agreed. They lapsed back in to silence.

“So, how did you get attacked by a dryad?”

Logan was quiet for a moment, and Virgil was about to apologize for asking when he replied with, “I was, admittedly, not the most...responsible person in my youth.”

Virgil stopped and looked at Logan.

“I will elaborate if we continue walking,” Logan said.

“Okay, spill,” Virgil said, starting to walk again.

“I was in the forest with a boy I had a crush on at the time. He dared me to climb to the top of a tree, and the tree was a dryad who did not appreciate having a 14 year old boy climb it.”

Virgil snorted, trying to keep Virgil from laughing too much, “Wh-What happened?”

“We happened to be near to a dryadic forest, and apparently one of their rules prohibits killing lovestruck adolescents who climb trees to impress their crushes. The dryad let me go shortly after capturing me, although I lost a lot of blood. I told the boy I had a crush on him,” Logan said.

“What did he say?” Virgil asked.

“I imagine it was some variation of a curse, as I fainted from the bloodloss. He did manage to get us both back to the settlement. I stayed in the clinic overnight, but the next day the medic sent me on my way after making me promise not to leave my house for a day, then continue to take it easy after that.

“That night I snuck out and went to the boy. He apologized for making me climb the tree, then asked if I meant what I said about him. I said yes, and he ran away, then came to my house two days later, gave me some flowers, apologized for running off, and asked me out. We dated for 7 months before agreeing we were better as friends,” Logan finished.

“Honestly, if you got rid of the part where you broke up, it sounds like the sort of stuff Rose and Patton talk about,” Virgil laughed.

“I suppose it does, although I do have the scars to prove validity to my claim.”

“Dude, seriously?” Virgil asked, stopping again.

“Dryads have very long thorns,” Logan replied, moving to unzip his jacket.

“No, don’t. You don’t have to show me,” Virgil said.

Logan shrugged. “We do need to keep walking.”

“Right,” Virgil said, continuing.

“I think you now owe me an embarrassing story from your adolescence.”

“Gods, you make it sound so formal.”

“What would you use to describe it?”

“I don’t know. Childhood? Teenagedom? I’m kind of still a teenager, though.”

“Interesting. That being said, I would enjoy hearing a story from you if it doesn’t make you feel uncomfortable,” Logan said.

“Well, when I was 13 I snuck out of the nursery at night specifically to make a tiny barrier with insults embedded in it, then leave it by the cooking grounds to see who would find it. I could tell people stepped on it some times because they would pause, then react a little and move on. I think it stayed around for at least a month.

“Then L found it and cried to Dar about it. To be fair he was 5, maybe 6. Anyways, Dar basically told everyone that she wasn’t mad, and she could help us desummon it if we needed it. Oh, and she had the barrier, and if it wasn’t desummoned by the next morning she would bring it up with the others in the village. I desummoned it that night, but I think a bunch of other kids made some barriers like it and put them in Dar’s room. I don’t know exactly what she ended up doing, but the barriers all got desummoned eventually,” Virgil replied.

“That is very interesting,” Logan said, and they lapsed back in to silence.

“Do you mind if I speed this up?” Virgil asked, holding out Virgil’s hand to Logan.

“Pardon?”

“I can make us go faster if you hold my hand. It’s what I did with the dryad. Uh, no crashing in to trees this time,” Virgil said. Logan slowly took Virgil’s hand, and Virgil reached through defense and in to flight, roughly doubling their speed towards the star and (hopefully) the other two dumbasses who managed to land themselves on a hike across the continent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 7  
> Logan: 144 Miles  
> Virgil: 2,652 Miles


	15. Convergent

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Convergent(Adj): Tending to move towards one point or to approach each other

Rose woke up to sunlight crawling in to her eyes. Patton was still asleep beside her, and it didn’t seem like he would wake up any time soon. She dug her sketchbook and pencil out of her bag and thought about what to draw. She looked around and spotted a little pretty flower. She walked over and sat next to it, sketching it out.

She turned her head, trying to get a good angle of the way the petals fanned out and the leaves leaned towards the sunlight. Rose frowned at her drawing: the leaves were too round, and the drawing was so twisted it looked like it would fall of of the page.

Rose started to try again, but every time she drew it the shape was wrong. Eventually she filled the entire page with lopsided drawings of the same flower. Undeterred, Rose flipped to a new page and kept drawing.

“What are you drawing?”

Rose jumped when Patton’s voice sounded from above her.

“Sorry!” Patton said.

“It’s okay. You’re just...really quiet. I was just drawing that flower,” Rose said, putting her sketchbook where Patton could see it.

“Oh, wow, Rosie! These are so good!” Patton said.

“Rosie?”

“Oh, should I not call you that?”

“No, I like it. Do I get to call you nicknames, too?”

“Sure!”

“Alright, Patton-ton Bear.”

Patton smiled.

“Should we eat?”

“Yeah,” Rose said, closing her sketchbook. Patton had already set out the food, so they made quick work of eating it.

“Are we still supposed to stay here and wait for Logan and Virgil?” Rose asked, glancing around the forest without looking for anything in particular.

“I think so, unless your mysterious force says otherwise,” Patton said.

“I don’t think it wants us to move,” Rose said, “But it let me see the flower, so I don’t know…Oh! maybe it can tell why I want to go? Like it didn’t want me to go home, but it didn’t care about me going over to get a good look at the flower even though it wants me to stay around here.”

“That could be it,” Patton said, “Do you want to look around a bit? There might be some berries.”

“That sounds good,” Rose said. They started walking. The mysterious force hovered over Rose, threatening her with a discomforting feeling every now and then, but it never sent enough to overwhelm her. They found a patch of dewberries and ate what was there, trying, and failing, to keep the juice off of their hands. They finally walked back to where they had been, but the sun had only barely climbed to the top of the sky.

“Adventuring isn’t supposed to be boring,” Rose complained, sitting down and glaring at the trees.

“Can’t say anything against that,” Patton agreed.

“We should play a game.”

“Great idea! What game are you thinking about?”

“I don’t know. Something where we talk. I’m tired of walking.”

“Okay, what about 21 questions?” Patton asked.

“Okay. You choose first.”

“I’m thinking of an animal,” Patton said after a moment.

“Okay. Is it magical?” Rose asked.

“Nope.”

“Does it have four legs?”

“Yes.”

“Does it…” The questions spiraled around and around, getting closer to the answer until it clicked in Rose’s mind.

“Is it a frog?” Rose asked. She glanced to briefly meet Patton’s eyes and was rewarded with a smile.

“Yeah! Alright, your turn.”

“Okay,” Rose said, looking around the forest, as she thought. “I’m thinking of a plant.”

“Hmm, does it grow in a forest?”

They played a couple more rounds of 21 questions, then turned to making up stories one word at a time. They had just finished making up a story about a dog who could fly and breathe ice who was trying to court a lizard who could teleport when they heard voices.

“So you people rode hippogriffs, and you think being able to make barriers is weird?” V laughed.

“We did not ride them. We gave them messages and told them to bring them to different settlements,” Logan replied.

“By?”

Logan made a series of strange clicking sounds, “I just said that we talk to them.”

“So you talk to horse-eagle hybrids?”

“Actually, hippogriffs are produced when gri-”

“Logan! V! We’re over here!” Rose called in the rough direction of their voices.

“Is that you, Rose?” Logan yelled back.

“Yeah! I’m with Patton!”

It took the most excruciating seconds of Rose’s life for Logan and V to step in to her line of sight. She ran towards them, sliding to a stop, as she realized she didn’t know what to say to them.

“It is good to see you again, Rose. Were you or Patton hurt by the dryad?” Logan saved her.

“No, we got away. You weren’t hurt, right?” Rose asked. They didn’t seem hurt, and they had probably been walking for the entire day that she and Patton had just been playing games for.

“I am unharmed, and V is not seriously injured,” Logan replied. Rose looked at V, trying to find out how V was hurt. She spotted some scabs on V’s face.

“What happened to your face?” she asked.

“I ran in to a tree. I’m fine, really. L already looked at it with his fancy medical stuff.”

“A first aid kit is not ‘fancy medical stuff.”

“Hi, Patton!” V said with more volume than was necessary.

“Hi yourself!” Patton replied.

“Well, if there are no complaints I think we should set up camp for the night,” Logan said. Rose, Patton, and V all made sounds of agreement, and they set out their things, with Rose claiming the first watch. Rose scanned the treeline, and for the first time she felt a little happy that she was sitting on a sleeping bag in the middle of the woods.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 7  
> Logan: 144 Miles  
> Rose: 59 Miles  
> Patton: 80 Miles  
> Virgil: 2,652 Miles


	16. Snowfall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Snowfall(N): A fall of snow

Patton stretched, as he woke up. The sun wasn’t quite up yet, but V and Logan were already getting ready for the day. He transferred in to his chair and started rolling up his sleeping bag and getting out breakfast for everyone. V was the first to finish his breakfast, followed by Logan. Patton and Rose finished next, right in time for a snowflake to fall.

“Aw, I hope it doesn’t get too cold. It’s kind of early to be getting this much snow,” Patton commented, watching another snowflake join the small drifts of snow.

“I would consider this late, although I’m not sure how far north we are,” Logan replied.

“Y’all are weird,” V said.

“You are from a much warmer climate,” Logan pointed out, “We should get moving, especially since none of you have proper snow gear. V, I assume you are the least prepared, and I am willing to let you wear my coat again if you get cold.”

“I got cold ages ago, but I’ll be fine.”

Patton frowned. He didn’t like the idea of any one of them being cold, and it disconcerted him that he hadn’t noticed V was uncomfortable.

“My offer still stands,” Logan said.

“I’ll just act like it’s a sandstorm,” V replied, flipping V’s hood up and pulling V’s scarf over V’s nose, “And I’m ready when you are.”

“I’m ready,” Logan said.

“Me, too!” Rose chimed in, pulling her backpack on.

“Me, three!” Patton said, starting to hover.

“Okay, what’s everyone’s favorite thing to do when it’s snowing?” Rose asked, starting to follow V.

“Easy! Get a fire going and cuddle up with the whole family,” Patton said.

“In a light snowfall I enjoy going out on the porch and reading,” Logan said.

“I guess I like to walk around the forest with three people I met about a month ago,” V scoffed, tugging on the sleeves of V’s jacket.

“Remus and I used to have snowball fights. I always won,” Rose finished the responses, “V, your turn to make the challenge.”

“Everyone list a downside to their thing,” V replied with confidence that had to come from having an answer pre-prepared.

“I don’t like that one,” Patton said, trying to think of a downside of cuddling in front of a fire, “I guess there’s the tiny possibility that the fire could get out of control?”

“That works. Logan?” V said.

“Snow could get the pages damp.”

“Okay, Rose?”

“If you put rocks in snowballs you can get hurt.”

“Why do you know that?” V asked, giving her a sideways glance.

“One time one of the kids that lives nearby joined Remus and me for a snowball fight. He was really determined to win and when he kept getting hit he put a rock in a snowball and threw it at me,” Rose said, “I got a big bruise where it hit. Remus did it back to him, and he ran off crying.”

“Barbaric, but I suppose I wasn’t much better. I put crushed berries in mine so that it looked like bloods. Much of my winter clothing has ‘blood’ stains in it,” Logan said, pointing to a barely visible stain on his coat.

“What happened to just using snow?” Patton protested. He didn’t like the sound of snowballs that could bruise people or looked like blood. Rose’s response was to make a small snowball that was mostly mud because of the amount of snow that had fallen and throw it at Patton.

“No fair! I can’t even reach the ground!” Patton protested.

Logan replied by throwing a mud/snow ball at Rose.

“Note to self: Snow turns people in to barbarians who think throwing stuff at people is a good idea,” V commented and stopped to look at them.

That was V’s first and last mistake.

Rose and Logan made snowballs at the same time and threw them firmly at V’s chest.

“That is cold!” V yelled, “Give me your jacket. Then it’s your turn to freeze.”

“It is on,” Logan replied, handing V his spare jacket.

Patton landed to join in the fight. They hurled snow balls at each other until the sun rose about two hours later.

“Sun-up truce!” Rose called, slinging her last snowball at Logan, who retaliated with his own snowball. Patton let his snowball fall to the ground.

“I guess I can see why snowball fights are a thing,” V begrudgingly admitted when they started walking again, prompting a discussion about their favorite snow ball fights and weird rules they had run in to. They stopped when the sun was high over their heads for lunch. Somehow their conversation had morphed in to one discussing how challenging it would be to do things without certain parts of your body. They made their lunch break quick to make up for the amount of time they spent throwing snow balls at each other. Logan paused right after they had re-started moving, pointing to a strangely shaped boulder.

“I know where we are. There’s a settlement this way. We should hit their trails soon.”

“Glad we’re not freezing tonight,” V commented.

“Yes, it is fortunate that we can get proper snow gear for the rest of you if our path continues north.”

They picked up the pace and made it to the settlement before sundown. Logan talked to some people and found a family willing to let them crash in their living room for the night. They all fell asleep quickly, grateful for the brief respite from the elements.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 31  
> Logan: 576 Miles  
> Rose: 491 Miles  
> Patton: 512 Miles  
> Virgil: 3,084 Miles


	17. Stock

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stock(V): To procure or keep a stock of

Logan was the first to awaken, as usual. He was quiet, as he rolled up his bag. Joan and Talyn, the people who had taken them in, walked in to the small living area Logan, V, Patton, and Rose had slept in. Logan gave them a small wave, then tapped his lips once, gesturing to his sleeping companions.

Joan and Talyn nodded and Joan stepped out of the room while Talyn made a small fire in the fireplace. V woke up quickly with the light, but V made no move to get out of V’s little nest of blankets. Logan was fairly sure at least one of the blankets V was buried under hadn’t been V’s when V woke up, despite the fact that Logan hadn’t moved and hadn’t seen V move.

“Good morning, V,” Logan whispered.

“G’morning, icecube,” V mumbled, retreating farther in to V’s blanket cave.

“You have to get up at some point.”

“Let me dream.”

Logan shook his head slightly, then carefully picked his way through the mess of blankets and pillows to Talyn.

“Good morning, Talyn,” he whispered.

“Good morning, Logan,” they whispered back.

“Do you have any recommendations for times to go to the market?” Logan asked, even though he was already 99% certain he knew how Talyn would respond.

“As early as you can. The earlybird vendors are probably setting up right now, so I’d start waking up your companions if you want to eat breakfast and leave as a group,” Talyn replied, exactly as Logan had predicted.

“Thank you,” Logan replied, then gently shook Patton awake. Patton mumbled something in to his pillow.

“Patton,” Logan whispered.

“Gimme a minute.”

“What is it about being inside that suddenly makes everyone not want to move?”

“There aren’t any rocks that are also trying to get us to move,” Rose answered.

“Has everyone been awake this whole time and just pretending to be asleep?” Logan asked. V snickered in to V’s pillow, and neither Rose nor Patton gave him an answer.

“Who wants to make breakfast?” Logan decided to ignore the implied response. No one made a move.

“Why don’t you do it, Logan?” Patton asked.

“I am not the best cook.”

“But we’re warm," Rose said.

Logan sighed. The room was getting warm very quickly now that Talyn had started the fire, but he decided how warm the room was was not an argument he wanted to have.

“Very cooperative group, hmm?” Talyn asked.

“I believe being indoors has ruined them,” Logan replied lightly, then let Talyn direct him to where the food and bowls were. Logan quickly made breakfast, and everyone made even quicker work of eating it, with only one quip from Logan about how fast they left their cocoons of blankets when the food was ready.

After breakfast Logan followed Joan through the dark streets to the market. He browsed through the vendors that were setting up for the day. He was first in line to a vendor selling decent clothing, and it didn’t take long for Logan to get Patton, Rose, and V fitted and nudge the price down just enough that they still had a sizable amount to restock on food. The vendor Logan singled out for travel food was less open to bartering, and Logan settled for just paying the vendor’s original asking price.

Logan thanked Joan again for their and Talyn’s help, then gestured for V to lead the way. V turned towards a road heading west.

“If you’re heading that way I should warn you that the next settlement over had been reporting a lot of wildlife activity,” Joan said. Logan glanced towards V, who shrugged.

“What kind of wildlife activity?”

“Wolves, mostly. Some bears, too.”

“How strange is it?”

“Not that different from what I understand, just a lot of movement.”

Logan nodded, “I think we’ll take our chances. Thank you, for warning us, though.”

“Yeah, I’d do the same. Safe travels.”

“Mild winters,” Logan nodded.

Joan disappeared in to the crown of the marketplace.

“Are you sure it’s a good idea, L?” V asked.

“Wolves tend to avoid people, and bears usually won’t bother you if you’re careful. We can take an alternate route if you think it’s best, although it may add days to our journey.”

“Okay,” V sighed, “I’ll take your word for it.”

Logan, V, Patton, and Rose started walking towards the road, as the sun slowly started to wobble above the horizon. The travelers were quiet, as they walked beyond the last building and on to the quickly-thinning trail. They walked single-file, clinging to the last bits of the trail. Rose jerked to a stop, looking off the trail. Logan followed her gaze, but he saw nothing but snow-covered trees and undergrowth. Rose shook her head and walked ahead to where V had stopped.

“What’s everyone’s least favorite song?” she asked.

“Ha! Easy. There’s a really bright and annoying song that goes on forever. I think it’s a rule that everyone under 5 likes it and over 5 hates it,” V said.

“Can you sing it?” Rose asked.

“You got it stuck in my head by just mentioning ‘least-favorite song’. I don’t think you can handle its power.”

“Are you sure?” Rose laughed, making a small barrier, then collapsing it.

“Barriers can not prepare you for the power of this song.”

Rose and V continued to lightly debate whether V should sing the song. Logan kept one eye on the snow beneath his feet and one on the forest around them, and he didn’t miss the nervous glances Rose occasionally gave to their surroundings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 32  
> Logan: 595 Miles  
> Rose: 510 Miles  
> Patton: 532 Miles  
> Virgil: 3,103 Miles


	18. Pack

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pack(N): 5a(2) A group of often predatory animals of the same kind

Rose gnawed on the flavorless bar Patton had handed her. She didn’t know why travel food had to be bland and hard. It was better than bland and mushy, but still. Birds cackled to each other through the trees, as Logan examined something a little ways off from where they had stopped for lunch.

“Did anyone keeping watch last night see wolves?” Logan asked, coming back.

“I saw one really big one, but it didn’t approach us. I think it was just curious,” Rose said.

“I didn’t see anything,” Patton said.

“You only saw one, Rose?”

“Yeah. It looked at me for a minute, then some other wolves barked, and it ran away.”

“Okay. If everyone is ready we should start walking again,” Logan said.

“All aboard the train towards probably-wolves,” V said.

“All aboard the train towards a fun time travelling with friends?” Rose suggested a more friendly version.

“Choo-choo!” Patton chimed in.

“I haven’t even seen a set of train tracks,” V complained.

“Oh, they managed to strike an agreement with all intelligent life on a small stretch of land on the other side of Esten mountains and install a train there. It’s very famous,” Rose said.

“Okay, not fair. We’re coming back this way with a truck to see the train,” V said.

“Well, first we need to get to a truck,” Logan pointed out.

“I get it. Choo-choo,” V said, starting to walk.

“What’s the longest distance you’ve traveled?” Rose asked.

“Across the continent,” V replied immediately.

“The farthest from my settlement I’ve been is the settlement that we’re walking towards now, but this is the farthest distance I’ve walked,” Logan said.

“This is easily the farthest,” Patton said.

“This is the farthest I’ve been, too. I guess that was a bad question for a bunch of people who have been walking for a month,” Rose said, kicking up a bit of snow. Her eyes were drawn to a set of pawprints, but they led away from the path.

“Well, I have a different question for the group. Where would you like to explore?” Logan asked.

“The ocean,” V said.

“I would want to go to a different continent and see all the types of plants there,” Patton said.

“In all honesty the plants on this continent are sufficient grounds for my curiosity at the moment,” Logan said.

“But is it really exploring if people have already been there?” Rose asked.

“I suppose that depends on how you define exploring. This area is unfamiliar to you three, so I think walking here counts as exploring for you, but not for me, as I’ve been here before. On an unrelated note, this plant is edible if anyone is hungry,” Logan said, picking a leaf off of a small bush. Rose picked one, too, out of curiosity, but it didn’t taste like much. She looked at the bush again, noticing a paw print in the snow.

“What’s that?” Rose asked, even though she was pretty sure it came from a wolf.

“Wolf print. It has to have been made recently, too,” Logan said almost immediately. He glanced around, then shook his head, “They probably won’t bother us.”

“Maybe we should keep watch in pairs,” Rose said.

“I don’t think that will be necessary, but if it makes you feel more comfortable we can certainly try it. In any case we should keep walking,” Logan said, “You never said where you want to explore, Rose.”

“I think you aren’t thinking big enough. I want to go all the way to the moon!” Rose said, continuing along the trail.

“What do you think you would find all the way up there?” Patton asked.

“It wouldn’t be exploring if I knew,” Rose replied, “But I hope there are plants that managed to get up there.”

“Hm, I find that unlikely, but I suppose we can’t discredit the notion until someone manages to get there and back,” Logan said.

“How would you even get there?” V asked.

“We’ll drive there.”

“Cars can’t drive on air,” V said.

“Then we’ll float there on pure curiosity!” Rose said.

V snorted, shaking V’s head, “And we’ll float all the way back down?”

“Mhm! Unless there are creatures up there with a better way down.”

“What would they look like?” V asked.

“I made up how we’re getting there, so you should make up what they look like,” Rose said.

“Okay, well, they’re tiny, and they have colorful hair like me, and they don’t have arms or legs, they just wiggle around.”

They kept going around adding more things to their moon ecosystem until it was time to sleep, with Logan and V taking a joint first watch.

*****

Rose awoke with a hand over her mouth. She struggled, then realized it was Logan. A wolf howled nearby. Rose tapped Logan’s hand, and Logan pulled it away. Rose stood up, looking at the pack of wolves spread out in the trees in front of them.

Rose took off running.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 33  
> Logan: 614 Miles  
> Rose: 529 Miles  
> Patton: 551 Miles  
> Virgil: 3,122 Miles


	19. Blizzard

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Blizzard(N): A long, severe snowstorm

_This is the opposite of the correct course of action._

Regardless of this fact, Logan found himself running after Rose. Logan had not been aware of how fast Rose could run. He was significantly taller than her, but still found himself struggling to keep her in his line of sight. Logan tried not to flinch at the howls and barks of the wolves behind him. He watched Rose stumble and fall, but before he could reach her she was running again. Logan jumped over the small ditch that had caused her fall, and somehow Rose started running faster. Logan put his head down and kept running. The wind started blowing, hard. It drew flurries of snow from through the trees, quickly thickening.

“Rose!” Logan yelled. He hoped it was his imagination hearing the calls of wolves and seeing the flashes of fur. He barely caught a glimpse of Rose falling again, and he managed to stumble through the wind to her.

“Rose, stay down,” Logan yelled to be heard above the wind, laying down beside her. Rose nodded, although she was clearly shivering.

_What do we have?_ Logan quickly snapped in to survival mode. They were two people stranded in a snowstorm with decent clothing. They were cold, but uninjured. There was a risk of a wolf attack, but that was likely small now. Then again, that was the assumption that had led them here. Either way their first priority was warmth.

_Rose can do magic._

“Can you make a barrier?” Logan yelled.

“I’ll try,” Rose said, closing her eyes. Something flickered around them, then collapsed. More barriers popped up and collapsed.

_Not working._

Logan scanned the small area he could see, and didn’t see anything that might protect them from the wind, and there wasn't enough snow yet to make digging a viable option. They would have to risk moving.

Logan fumbled in front of him until he found Rose’s hand. He held it and slowly started crawling in roughly the direction they had been going in before. His pocket caught on something. Logan reached with his free hand to unsnag his coat, thinking it was a root or a low branch on a bush. His hand locked around a handle. Logan rocked back, trying to see any indication of what the handle was for, and he saw nothing. He pulled, and a small door opened.

“Hello?” Logan called in to the opening. There was no response. He shrugged and put Rose’s hand on the handle before slowly lowering himself in to the hole.

Logan couldn’t see anything. He heard Rose drop down the hole behind him, but couldn’t hear anything from within the hole. He started to stand up and quickly hit his head on the ceiling. He felt carefully along the wall, and his hand landed on a candle and set of matches. He lit the candle. T

he candle was enough to clearly see every corner of the room. It was clearly made by some sort of intelligent life, although the size of the room suggested it wasn’t human made.

“Hello? We’re seeking shelter from the storm,” Logan said. Nothing answered him.

“I think you can close the door,” Logan said, turning to Rose.

“Are you sure it’s safe?”

“I think we’re the only ones in here right now.” Rose closed the door, and they sat on the floor just out of the reach of the snow that had fallen in.

“Who do you think made it?” Rose asked.

“I don’t know, but I don’t think they were human,” Logan said, “Although it seems like they know a lot about human culture.”

The room looked like a combination of a house’s living room and kitchen, but in miniature scale. The possibility of this being someone’s play house occurred to Logan, but he didn’t see any toys, and he was fairly sure they had run in the wrong direction to get to the settlement.

“Do you think we can go through that door?” Rose asked, pointing out a small wooden door set in to the wall.

“It’s probably more polite not to explore,” Logan said. Everything looked in much too good condition for the room to not have inhabitants.

“So what do we do now?”

“I suppose we just wait for the storm to be over. You can sleep if you’d like.”

“Okay,” Rose replied.

They sat in silence. Logan noted that he had been wrong in his assessment that there were no toys: a small box of dolls was tucked mostly out their view against a chair.

“I can watch while you sleep,” Rose offered, rocking slightly and throwing long shadows across the room.

“Thank you, but I’ll stay awake.”

Silence filled the room again.

“I hope Patton and V got away,” Rose said.

“Patton can fly and V is very fast. I don’t think we have to worry about them,” Logan said, mostly to reassure himself. He had no idea how well either of them would deal with a blizzard.

_I shouldn’t care. I met them a month ago. If they get caught by wolves or the storm it’s their stupidity._

_Stars damn that. Keep them warm and safe._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 34  
> Logan: 614 Miles  
> Rose: 529 Miles


	20. Blizzard

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Blizzard(N): A long, severe snowstorm

_Fuck snow._

So maybe Virgil shouldn’t have picked a random direction to run. Maybe Virgil should have put up a barrier in the first place instead of running. Maybe Virgil should have grabbed on to anything that might have kept Virgil near Patton, Logan, or Rose.

And maybe Virgil didn’t do any of those things.

Well, to be fair Virgil had a barrier up _now_ , and Virgil was fairly sure the next star was in the rough direction of at least one of the others, so Virgil wasn’t completely lost.

Virgil still couldn’t see anything. Virgil pulled Virgil’s hood farther down over Virgil’s face. It was freezing, and Virgil doubted Virgil could see much more than if Virgil had Virgil’s eyes closed. Virgil whipped Virgil's head towards the sound of a voice. Or at least what Virgil thought was a voice.

_Probably just the wind. Or an hallucination. Can you hallucinate from being too cold?_

Everything sounded the exact same: silence interrupted by the slight hint of wind that really should have been a roar.

“Hello?” Virgil yelled to the voice. The noise didn’t really change.

_Fuck, I’m going to die out here._

Virgil looked at the barrier Virgil was holding. Virgil couldn’t tell what was on the other side of it, but Virgil was fairly sure it was just snow. Virgil let it drop.

_Holy shit._

Virgil flew back in the drift of snow, fumbling for a new barrier.

“...gan?..ee?” the voice called.

_Ee? V! Patton!_

“Patton!” Virgil yelled, stumbling to stand. Virgil threw a barrier in what Virgil was pretty sure was the right direction.

“...ee? V? Rose?”

“Patton!” Virgil screamed again, relinquishing Virgil’s fight to remain standing in the wind. Virgil felt himself be thrown in to something.

“V? Is that you?”

“Patton?” Virgil yelled again.

A hand latched around Virgil’s arm and pulled Virgil closer to the source.

“V, you’re okay!” Patton said, “Thank god, you didn’t see Logan or Rose, did you?”

“No,” V said.

“Well, Logan knows what he’s doing. I’m sure they’re okay,” Patton said.

_What if they’re not together? Logan’s used to having equipment. Does he really know how to protect himself? What about us? It’s so fucking cold._

“V? V, look at me.” Virgil looked up at Patton.

“We're going to be okay, but we need to get to shelter. We're really close to one. I ran in to it when I heard your voice," Patton said.

“Okay, uh, lead the way,” Virgil said, trying to chase Virgil's thoughts away.

“Hold on to my chair, okay?” Patton said. Virgil tentatively held on to the back of Patton’s chair. Virgil stumbled the couple feet to a small shed. Patton pounded on the door and called out in two different languages Virgil didn’t understand before the door opened a couple of inches. Patton and the person said a couple things in one of the languages, then they were waved in to the small shed.

Everything in the shed looked like it was made for people half of Patton’s height. Virgil had to bend over just to avoid hitting the ceiling, and Virgil wasn’t even that tall. A knobby looking man hobbled stiffly to a tiny couch and sat down. Virgil helped Patton close the door, well, Virgil closed the door after Patton because the door wasn’t wide enough to admit Patton’s wheelchair. Virgil hoped they wouldn't blow it away before they could get to it again.

Patton brushed snowflakes out of his eyelashes, rubbing his cheeks and hands. The person was staring stiffly forward, paying them no heed.

“Who is that?” Virgil whispered, rubbing Virgil’s hands together to try to generate some warmth.

“Oh, that’s Kai. He’s a gnome,” Patton said, as if that explained everything. Granted, at least Virgil had heard of gnomes before, but all Virgil’s knowledge chocked up to was something about protecting riches.

“Should we do something?”

“It’s best to just stay by the door so we don’t break anything, but look at those cups!” Patton said, then broke off to say something in another language. Virgil didn’t really see what was special about the cups, other than that they were tiny. The gnome replied something that sounded about as friendly as a ball of cactus thorns covered in snake venom.

“He says it’s best to stay quiet because of...I don’t know what he means by that last bit,” Patton said.

“So we’re just supposed to sit here until we can keep moving?” Virgil asked.

“You got it, kiddo,” Patton replied in a far too cheery tone. Virgil was already beginning to think they would be better off freezing in the middle of the woods.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 34  
> Patton: 551 Miles  
> Virgil: 3,122 Miles


	21. Arrange

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Arrange(V): To bring about an agreement or understanding

Rose watched Logan from a safe distance away. Logan was currently trying to open the trapdoor they had descended through, although it didn’t look like he was making any progress.

“Why don’t we go through that door?” Rose asked, pointing out the small door on the other side of the room.

“I’m hesitant to explore an living area without its inhabitants here, but I suppose I am unlikely to budge this door,” Logan said, although he didn’t take his hands off of the trapdoor. Rose picked her way through the furniture that was just barely too small to belong to humans and knocked on the door. No one responded, so she slowly pushed it open. The door stopped after about an inch, caught on the snow that had drifted under the awning.

“It leads outside!” Rose said, “But it’s stuck.”

“May I look?” Logan asked. Rose sat back so that Logan could get to the door, and he quickly maneuvered it open enough for them to crawl out. Rose stood and stretched, looking at the ornate entrance way that they had some from.

“Dwarves! Of course. We must be much closer to the settlement than I thought we were,” Logan said, digging through his pockets.

“We were just in a dwarven house?”

“Yes,” Logan said, sliding something small in to the house.

“I don’t think I’ve ever met a dwarf before,” Rose said.

“I’m not surprised. Dwarves tend to keep to themselves. This settlement is considered very close to humans, and we should be about two miles out if I remember correctly.”

“Can we meet one?” Rose asked, looking at all the little entryways.

“Only if we come back later,” Logan said, pulling out his compass, “For now we should go to the human settlement.”

Logan started walking, and Rose reluctantly followed him. Her skin itched with something that didn’t feel right, but she couldn’t put a finger on why. Birds filled the forest up with sounds, and the crunch of their footsteps kept a steady time, but Rose still felt like there was something missing. It made no sense, but the feeling kept growing, as they kept walking. Her footsteps lengthened to let her swing a little bit while keeping up with Logan.

Talking! Usually we’re talking, that’s what’s wrong.

“What’s the most snow you’ve seen fall?” Rose asked.

“I don’t know exactly. I remember there was a snow storm on my 14th birthday that came up to my belly button, but I don’t think that was the deepest snow I’ve ever been in.”

Rose held a hand up to where she guessed Logan’s belly button was.

“How hard was it to walk in it?” she asked, staring at her hand.

“Without snowshoes it was practically impossible,” Logan replied.

“Maybe for my 14th birthday there will be a big snow storm. It probably won’t happen, though.”

“When is your birthday?”

“It’s in June.”

“If we go far enough north there is a possibility to see snow in June,” Logan said.

“Are we far enough north for that?”

“No. Is that another place you’d like to explore?”

“If I could explore everywhere I wanted to I would never stop walking. And you’ve already been so many more places.”

“I haven’t been exploring them, though. It’s part of a healer’s job to help share knowledge. I didn’t recognize any of the area we were passing through for at least the first 3 weeks of travel,” Logan replied, “Besides, I would like to explore many more places than I have visited, too.”

“Okay. On your ideal planet, how much of it is water?”

“That...is a very unusual question. All life here is dependent on water in some way, so if there was to be life there should be water, but if life managed to develop without water it would be fascinating,” Logan muttered, then raised his voice to a normal speaking level, “I will say my ideal planet would be one third water. What’s your answer to that question?”

“I don’t know. When I make stories I base them on my village. I guess however much water there is here.”

“How big would your ideal planet be?” Logan asked.

“That one’s really hard! I want it to be big enough to have space to explore, but not so big that I can’t see everywhere. I think I want it to be as small as possible and still have a bunch of life so that I can have time to explore it all. Now your turn!”

“I am inclined to answer in the same vein as you. I don’t want to be on a planet that’s so big that I cannot explore all of it.”

“Do you think this planet is so big that we can’t explore all of it?” Rose asked. Bird song and crunching footsteps filled Logan’s silence.

“I think that depends on how well you explore everywhere,” he said.

“What if you only pass through? How hard would it be to walk across every bit of the world?”

“It would be incredibly difficult. We’ve been traveling for a month, and we’re nowhere near having crossed the continent once.”

“I don’t like that,” Rose said, scrunching up her nose.

“Me neither.”

They walked in relative silence for a bit longer.

“What did you do before?” Rose asked.

“What?” Logan asked.

“You said you’re 22. Didn’t you have a job?”

“Oh,” Logan said. He was quiet for a moment before responding, “I was learning how to become a healer.”

“Why did you stop?” Rose asked.

“I think I see the trail we were on before,” Logan said instead of answering and sped up. Rose sped after him, looking for the trail, but she didn’t see any signs of travel, and after a second of thinking realized the trail shouldn’t be visible because of the new snow fall.

“You can just tell me if you don’t like a question,” Rose pouted.

“I’m sorry, Rose. It’s just a sore spot, I suppose. Were you learning anything before this?”

“Remus and I went to school, but it doesn’t teach you anything interesting or useful. At least in history they teach you things that can turn out funny.”

“Can you give me an example?” Logan asked.

“It might be sort of long.”

“I don’t mind,” Logan replied.

“Ok, so…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 35  
> Logan: 616 Miles  
> Rose: 531 Miles


	22. Arrange

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Arrange(V): To make preparations for

“Thank you for letting us stay,” Patton told the gnome, as shook the snow off of his wheelchair.

“Travel fast,” the gnome grunted back, then closed the door. V stood stiffly a little ways off, looking around. Patton pulled himself in to his chair and floated over to V.

“I’m good to go,” Patton said.

“Okay,” V said, although V made no move to start walking.

“Should I ask the gnome for directions to that settlement Logan said we were going towards?” Patton offered.

“No, I got it,” V said and started walking, pulling V’s hoods tighter over V’s head. Patton started floating after V. Neither of them made any attempt at conversation.

“Is something wrong?”

“I’m fine,” V snapped back.

“Okay,” Patton said. He leaned back in his chair, _how to cheer up V, how to cheer up V. Compliments are usually a pretty good route._

“I’m impressed with your sense of direction, kiddo.”

“Thanks?”

“No problem!” Patton replied. They traveled in silence for a bit.

“Uh, what’s your favorite food?” V asked.

“Cookies! Especially chocolate chip ones, but pretty much every cookie is okay in my book.”

“Oh, god, even date cookies?”

“Date cookies?”

“Okay, good, you’re sane. Basically they dry out some dates and put them in the cookies instead of anything that’s supposed to be in cookies.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever tried dates.”

“They’re sweeter than any fruit has any right being and in the worst way possible. Trust me, you’ve been saved.”

“Alright then. What’s your favorite food?” Patton asked.

“Not dates,” V snorted, “I don’t think I really have a favorite food. I’m not a very good cook, so I mostly just eat whatever T cooks.”

“Was he your friend?”

“Yeah. Oh, gods, they must be worried sick by now.”

“Well, you said it was a pilgrimage, right? So they should just be missing you a normal amount. Sorry, that sounded better in my head,” Patton said.

“Uh, yeah,” V said, then muttered something under V’s breath.

“What was that?”

“Nothing. Oh, look, there are footprints here,” V said, pointing out two sets of footprints, “There’s no sets going out. You want to bet that’s Rose and Logan?”

“Maybe,” Patton said, but he doubted it was, recalling how he and Rose had waited in the forest when the dryad came. V started walking across the footprints farther in to the forest.

“If you think it’s Rose and Logan shouldn’t we follow the footprints?” Patton asked. V hesitated, then shrugged.

“I guess,” V said. They turned to follow the footprints. They walked quietly for a moment, each occupying their own thoughts, then someone screamed ahead. Patton quickly pressed the button to speed up. He heard V say something, but the actual words were claimed by the wind. Patton nearly fell out of his chair from the force of braking when he reached the source of the screaming.

Which was Rose.

Logan, who was standing about a foot away with his hands over his ears waved at Patton. V skidded and fell when V made it to them, and immediately Rose stopped screaming and looked up.

“Rose, are you okay?” Patton asked gently, landing.

Rose nodded, wiping her face on her sleeve.

“Do you want a hug?” Patton said, holding his arms open.

Rose shook her head, looking down at the ground.

“Can you tell us what happened?”

Rose shook her head again.

“I can recount what I saw, if you’d like,” Logan offered.

Rose shook her head and lifted her hands from her lap to cover her ears.

“I don’t know what that means, kiddo,” Patton whispered.

“Probably wants us to be quiet,” V suggested.

Rose nodded.

“Okay, we can be quiet. But can we talk about this later?” Patton said.

Rose nodded.

“If it’s alright with you all I would like to walk ahead and see if we encounter the settlement. We shouldn’t be more than a few minutes away.”

“I think we should stay here,” Patton said. Rose twisted the edge of her coat in her fist.

“What if we split in to pairs? You and Rose can stay here, and V and I can look for the settlement and be back within the hour,” Logan said.

“Rose?” Patton asked.

Rose nodded.

“I still don’t like it, but as long as you’re back soon.”

“We promise to be back within an hour. It will probably be less time than that,” Logan said softly. Patton nodded, then focused his whole attention on Rose, wishing he could do something to help her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 35  
> Logan: 616 Miles  
> Rose: 531 Miles  
> Patton: 552 Miles  
> Virgil: 3,122 Miles


	23. Conception

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Conception(N): The originating of something in the mind

Virgil didn’t really want to go back to Rose. Rose and Patton were a 5 minute walk from the village, and when Logan and Virgil came back Rose was clinging to Patton like her life depended on it, so Logan and Virgil had quietly decided to go see if they could find their stuff.

Well, Virgil could see stars for a reason, and now they were two people lugging the supplies of four people back to Rose and Patton. It had taken them 20 minutes to get to the luggage, and now following their footsteps back they were probably within a minute’s walk of Rose and Patton.

It had been almost an hour since Patton and Virgil had heard Rose screaming, and Virgil guessed Patton would want to have the conversation about what happened, which was fair.

Virgil was curious too, if Virgil was honest. But Virgil also knew that it would be an uncomfortable conversation at best.

“Are you alright, V?” Logan asked.

“Yeah, just thinking.” Virgil hadn’t even realized Virgil had fallen behind.

“If I may venture an assumption, you are not looking forward to the conversation that will likely take place on our return?” Logan said, not making a move to resume walking.

“Yeah. How’d you guess?”

“I had a similar thought process. I suppose you already observed that I am not the best with strong emotions.”

“Honestly? I’m not sure I’d have had a better reaction.”

“Well, it’s a good think Patton is with us.”

“Thank the gods for Patton,” Virgil said. Virgil tried for levity, but didn’t think Virgil achieved it.

“We should return before Patton begins to worry.”

“Yeah,” Virgil sighed. They kept walking. It didn’t take them long to reach Rose and Patton. Rose was sitting on the ground next to Patton again. She looked up from playing with a stick when Logan greeted them.

“Hey, Logan, hey V. I hope it wasn’t too hard to find the stuff.”

“Not at all,” Logan replied, setting the bags he had been carrying down. Virgil put Virgil’s stuff down, too.

“Are you ready to talk about what happened?” Patton asked.

“Yeah,” Rose said.

“Should we not go somewhere indoors?” Logan asked.

“Well, don’t we have more privacy here?” Patton asked.

“That’s a strong point,” Logan said, sitting in front of them. Virgil made a barrier shaped like a chair to sit on.

“Can you teach me how to do that?” Rose asked, pointing to the chair.

“Yeah. It’s kind of hard, though. Well, takes more focus than making a sphere, at least.”

“Well, I can make spheres,” Rose said, and a shinny pink sphere appeared in her hands.

“Wow, kiddo! When did you learn to do that?” Patton asked reaching out to touch the sphere.

“I’ve been practicing while keeping watch,” Rose replied.

“While that is...quite impressive and admirable, I do believe that is not what we are supposed to be discussing,” Logan redirected them.

“Right. Rose?” Patton asked.

“What?”

“Can you tell us that happened?”

“Oh, right. I don’t...nothing much happened. Logan and I were walking, and I started feeling like the like my clothing was pushing my arm hair the wrong way. I tried to fix it, but it didn’t really work, so I tried to ignore it. Then I started smelling something that was kind of like spoiled milk, but Logan didn’t mention anything, so I thought it was just a plant of some sort. Then I started hearing clanging, and I figured that was from the village, but Logan still kept telling his story without mentioning it.

“I was about to ask whether Logan could hear or smell anything weird, then my mouth was filled with the worst texture in the world and everything just kind of...it...I don’t know how to explain it, but that was probably when I started screaming. Um, then it got better, and I looked up and saw Patton, but I was still kind of reeling from...all of that, so all the noise from talking...hurt? I think there’s a better word for it, but yeah.”

There was silence for a moment.

“Logan, what did you see happen?” Patton prompted.

Logan paused before beginning to respond, “I saw very little happen. We were walking and talking about our experience with education. Rose had finished recounting a story about a king who was so worried about being poisoned that he poisoned himself in small doses to build up a tolerance to them, but later in life his subject began to revolt, and he tried and failed to poison himself instead of facing their wrath.

“I, in turn, began sharing a story about a child in my settlement who would routinely end up at the medic’s because she thought it would be funny to eat random things. I noticed Rose looked a little uncomfortable, but I thought it was due to the subject matter of the story and tried to adjust the descriptions to be more vague. Then she started screaming.

“I stopped and tried to find the source of her distress, but I did not see anything. I asked her if she was alright, but she slapped my hand away when I touched her, so I stood aside. I will note that I did not smell anything that smelled like spoiled milk, nor did I hear clanging, even when V and I went ahead,” Logan replied.

“Okay. Rose, has this happened before?” Patton asked.

“No. I mean, sort of? I’ve gotten random bursts of bad feelings, but they usually come when we’ve turned to go the wrong way. I call it “the mysterious force”, but we should really brainstorm a better name. Logan and I didn’t turn, and it was gradual. I think they’re related though, because the mysterious force uses those things.”

“Did it happen before we met?” Logan asked.

“Uh, not really. Like, the mysterious force didn’t exist, but the other thing...has.”

“So the response has been documented in regards to a separate stimulus?” Logan asked.

Rose blinked in confusion a couple times, then nodded.

“Okay. Is there anything that could have caused it?”

“Um, I saw spirits right before it happened the first time, but they already knew me because I had gone to their graveyard during the day.”

“That wouldn’t cause it. Spirits can look in to the past and anywhere in the present, but they can’t curse people,” Virgil said, trying to think.

_Magical being, subtle, possession/curses, oh shit._

_Well, maybe not. Maybe it happened before...that._

“Rose, how many days passed between you seeing spirits and meeting me?”

“Not that long. Two days, I think? Maybe three?” Rose replied.

_Shit._

“Is something wrong, V?” Logan asked.

“Logan, how much do you know about demons and the fae?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 35  
> Logan: 616 Miles  
> Rose: 531 Miles  
> Patton: 552 Miles  
> Virgil: 3,122 Miles


	24. Rose

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rose(N): A flower symbolizing many types of love and passion  
> (Symbolism via ftd.com/blog/share/rose-meaning-and-symbolism)

“Logan, what do you know about demons and the fae?”

To say Rose was confused would be an understatement. Demons and the fae hadn’t been mentioned at all.

“Well, the fae are mostly solitary creatures. They look like humans, only they tend to be on the taller side and never have 10 fingers. There are legends that they abduct children and leave a fae child in its place, known as a changeling, however no documentation of such an event exists. They do attempt to mislead travelers and take their name, at which point the person belongs to the fae. They cannot lie, and can be repelled by a variety of things. The most common charms against them use iron.

“Demons usually live in remote places and create contracts with humans, usually some sort of power or knowledge in exchange for the human’s soul. There’s not much documentation on demons, but it’s known that they can take a myriad of forms. Is there anything more specific you need to know?” Logan asked.

“Can either of them affect people they haven’t met?” V asked.

“I don’t think so,” Logan replied.

“They can,” Rose cut in, “There’s a story we learned about where someone made a pact with a demon to seal a whole town away from the world. No one could enter or leave the town, and all of the town’s peoples memories were altered.”

“Well, I suppose there is your answer,” Logan said.

“Okay,” V said, “Okay.”

“Is something wrong, V?”

“I...I don’t know...can...I think...Can everyone say why they started this fucking adventure?” V said, V’s breaths hitching.

Patton flinched a little bit at the curse, then took a deep breath, “V, kiddo, can you breathe with me? In, 2, 3, 4, hold, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, out, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.”

Rose watched silently, as Patton calmed V down.

“There you are,” Patton said gently, “Can I touch you?”

“No,” V said, rubbing V’s face, “I still think we need to hear how we all got here.”

“Okay. Who wants to go first?” Patton asked. The four of them looked between each other, no one volunteering.

“I’ll go, I guess. It’s, um, not a very good story. I lived with my mom and my brother, Remus. They can be really annoying sometimes. I don’t think they try to be! I think they just don’t realize it...anyways, my mom and I had a little fight, and I got really mad, so I just left. I put what I thought I would need in my backpack and I went out in to the woods.

“There was a little graveyard in the woods that no one knew about. I went there a lot during the day when I wanted to get out of the house, so I went there to think about what to do next. I saw a bunch of spirits there, and we talked for a little bit. I decided not to stay there because it seemed rude, so I picked a direction and started walking.

“That was when the mysterious force showed up for the first time. It made me black out for a second and moved me. I looked around, but the spirits had disappeared. I turned to go in the direction I had chosen, but it happened again, so I just went in the direction I was facing.

“I started getting a little bit scared, and I was thinking about going back to my family, then I realized that the spirits really liked me, and they were close to my house, so if I decided I wanted to go back it would be easy.

“So I turned around. That was when the mysterious force was really mean for the first time. It sent me a bunch of bad feelings all at once, so, uh, that thing where I started screaming happened. When I stopped there was a weird person there with a chair.

“He asked me for directions to the nearest town, but I wasn’t sure which direction I was facing and didn’t want to send him in the wrong direction, so I told him I didn’t know. He suggested that we travel together until we find a town, and I agreed.

“He introduced himself as Patton, and when we got to a town he found another traveler when asking for directions and invited him to travel with us, that was Logan, and then when we were in a hotel someone came in and sat at our table and introduced themself as V,” Rose finished her story, looking around to see what they thought.

“Thanks for sharing that with us, kiddo,” Patton said.

“You’re welcome.”

“Do you still need our stories, V?” Patton asked.

“Yeah,” V said.

“Can we set up a camp first? I suspect we won’t be staying in this settlement if this continues,” Logan said.

“Okay, let’s do it,” Rose said, moving to start setting up camp.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 35  
> Logan: 616 Miles  
> Rose: 531 Miles  
> Patton: 552 Miles  
> Virgil: 3,122 Miles


	25. Patton

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pathos(N): An element in experience or in artistic representation evoking pity or compassion
> 
> !Warning!  
> Talk of being orphaned, talk of severe illness and death

Patton shifted in to a more comfortable position, watching as V dumped another load of mostly-dry branches next to the fire and sat down, the last to join the circle.

“Alright, I guess I’ll go next, unless either of you two want to go?” Patton said, hoping Logan or V would say yes. Logan and V shook their heads.

“Well, to understand it all you kind of have to start when I was born. I was the son of two farmers. They weren’t super well-off, but they had enough money to keep up a couple acres and hire some help for the planting and harvest.

“I don’t remember them very well. They went in to town in the fall to sell off the harvest, and they never came back. I was 6 years old at the time. The neighbors who were watching me kept me for a little bit, but they had their own kids and didn’t really want me to stay, so they took me in to town to see if anyone would take care of me.

“That’s how I landed in the orphanage, but I didn’t stay there for long. It only took a month for me to try running out to the country side. I got lost, but I was found by a boy a couple years older than I was. After I explained what happened he took me to his home and begged his family to let me stay.

“And I got to stay. My family wasn’t really what you would expect. It was basically a big group of bandit orphans. It sounds like more fun than it really was, but, y’know, we were family, and we looked after each other. The boy’s name was Emile. We grew really close, and when I was about 10 another boy joined up named Remy, and we grew really close, too.

“Anyways, when I was...17 I think? Yeah, 17. When I was 17 the plague had a little outbreak. I don’t think it managed to get out of the village, but Remy caught it. I spent a lot of time with him. He started loosing his hearing, so I started spending even more time with him in order to teach him sign language. We had some medicine with us, but it wasn’t really helping at all. Emile and the leader, Toby, got worried, so they went and managed to find a family that could care for him. It was sad, but life went on.

“But it didn’t take long before I got sick. It had been less than a week. At first we just thought that it was me being mopey because Remy left, but it just got worse, and we realized it was the plague. Emile and Toby tried to find a family for me, but it took a long time. By the time they found someone who could take me in I was basically as sick as Remy had been.

“I recovered pretty quickly once I had access to proper medicine, but the disease had already affected my lower body, and, well, I guess you can see how that ended,” Patton laughed a little, tapping the front wheel of his wheel chair, “Anyways, the family I was with had a bunch of kids. Once I was well enough to get around I was constantly helping with the kids. I mostly worked with the little kids because they needed the most help.

“One day after the kids fell asleep I asked their mom whether she knew where Emile was. She got defensive, and I didn’t bring it up again, but I thought about it. Later on I went out to town and started asking around. No one knew who I was talking about when I said Picani, but I managed to find a genie. I wished for my wheelchair to be able to fly, to be brought to my friends, and for it to be free.

“The genie left me in front of a grave marked Emile Picani, and,” Patton forced himself to swallow around the tightening in his throat, “The one...next to him...said Rem-” Patton couldn’t finish.

_Be strong, they need you,_ Patton admonished himself, trying to cover his sobs.

“Do you want a hug, Pat?” Rose asked. Patton nodded, and Rose crawled over and wrapped her arms loosely around Patton. A few moments later Patton felt two more arms come around them, then a few moments later a final set of arms enveloped them.

Patton let himself cry fully. He cried for the parents he never really knew. He cried for his friends trapped in the dirt. He cried for the family he left behind. He cried for the kids like him.

His tear tracks froze on to his face, and he rubbed them away.

“I chose a random direction to go in, and eventually I heard a scream. I flew towards it and saw a little girl curled up in the dirt,” Patton finished, squeezing Rose’s arm, “Sorry for crying on you guys.”

“If I’m allowed to scream because of a mysterious force, you’re allowed to cry because of your messed up life,” Rose said.

“My mentor once told me that emotions and their expressions are some of the most powerful things in the world because they are proof that you care,” Logan said.

“Shit, do I have to say something sweet and meaningful now?” V asked.

Patton laughed, “No, V, but maybe we should take a break from telling stories and get some sleep.”

“That is understandable. I will take first watch, if that’s alright,” Logan said briskly, stepping away from the group hug. V and Rose voiced their agreement and separated themselves to go to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 35  
> Logan: 616 Miles  
> Rose: 531 Miles  
> Patton: 552 Miles  
> Virgil: 3,122 Miles


	26. Logan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Logos(N): Reason that in ancient Greek philosophy is the controlling principle of the universe
> 
> !Warning!  
> Talk about large fires/burning buildings, talk about death

Logan squinted up at V when he was shaken awake.

“Good morning,” he mumbled, sitting up. The sun hadn’t risen yet, but the light of the stars and setting moon reflected off of the snow and made it quite easy to see. Logan got out of his sleeping bag and woke up Patton while V woke up Rose.

“Good morning, Logan,” Patton said, stretching, “Good morning, Rose and V,” he added, pulling himself out of his sleeping bag. “Early rise today, hmm?”

“I guess. But we didn’t move much yesterday, so I figured we could make up some time,” V said, rolling up his sleeping bag.

“But we won’t make up much time. Besides, we aren’t running on a time limit as far as I’m aware,” Logan said, starting to pack his own bag.

“Whatever.”

“You doing okay, V?”

“Yeah, why?” V snapped.

“You just seemed a little agitated,” Patton said.

V shrugged back, and Patton silently started passing out breakfast. Logan finished packing and ate quickly before standing and shouldering his pack.

“Okay, are we good to go?” V asked. Logan, Patton, and Rose voiced their affirmations, and V started walking.

“L, it’s your turn to tell you story, right?” V said.

“I was not aware that there was a turn order, but yes, I can tell my story next,” Logan replied, a little annoyed for a reason he couldn’t quite articulate. He brushed it off. “I would prefer that we pass through this settlement before I begin, though.”

V silently sped up. V was deceptively fast: V didn’t appear to be running, but Logan had to break in to a jog to keep up.

“Hey, V, could you slow down a bit?” Patton asked.

“Sorry,” V said, slowing back down to a normal pace. Logan dropped back in to a walk.

“Can I tell you a story about how Remus managed to keep a cat for weeks without my mom noticing despite the fact that we’re all allergic to cats?” Rose asked.

“Oo, that sounds interesting,” Patton said. Rose began recounting the story, sprouting laughter between the four of them. They hit the packed dirt streets of the settlement. The settlement was still quiet. Logan could hear the sounds of the marketplace getting set up, but most people were still in their houses. It didn’t take them long to get through the settlement. Logan let Rose continue her story, in no hurry to tell his own story.

“...then my mom found a family for the cat and deep-cleaned the house, but we all had runny noses for at least a week after,” Rose finished.

“Wow! How long was that again?” Patton asked.

“An entire month!” Rose replied proudly.

“Remus sounds very funny.”

“He is. Most of all annoying, but he can be funny,” Rose replied.

“Well, I guess it’s your turn, Logan,” Patton said.

“I suppose it is,” Logan sighed. Everyone’s gazes angled slightly to look at him and the road.

“Watch the trail, not me,” Logan reprimanded them, and their gazes turned back to watch where they were walking.

“I was born in a small settlement not unlike the one we just passed through. I was the only child of my mother and father. My childhood was not that interesting or abnormal, so I will skip over that part. I entered an apprenticeship as a medic when I turned 17. Elle, that was the name of my mentor, was a very kind woman, and I learned a lot with her guidance.

“Unfortunately a fire occurred while she was sleeping. I was awake and noticed the fire. I managed to get the person I was tending to out of the house, but by the time I had the building was too dangerous to enter.

“That did not stop me from trying, but the family next door held me back. I believe Elle succumbed-” Logan stopped, as he noticed the expressions on his companion’s faces.

“In any case I moved back in with my parents, but I grew very uncomfortable with the sentiments directed at me due to the death of my mentor. About a week after her death I began planning to run away. On the day I designated to begin my journey I visited a goblin colony.

“They gave me a prophecy. ‘Go south until you find a girl and a chair that moves. Go any way at all, you will find a demon with purple hair who is the last member of your party. Never stay more than a single night in any place. Danger awaits you. It is on your heels. You cannot run from it, and you cannot hide from it.’

“Upon receiving the prophecy I went south. I didn’t have to go very far at all. I spent one night camped out in the forest, then the next day I went through a town and I bumped in to Rose and Patton,” Logan finished.

“A...demon? V doesn’t seem that demon-like,” Rose said.

“Why am I the demon?” V grumbled.

“A girl-” Rose pointed to herself “-A chair the moves-” Rose pointed to Patton “-And a demon with purple hair,” she pointed to V’s curly, bright purple hair.

“But I’m not a demon,” V said.

“V, didn’t you bring up demons before we started telling our stories?” Logan asked.

“It’s ‘cuz I had an encounter with a demon, not because I am one,” V said, hunching V’s shoulders.

“Sometimes goblins are known to refer to people who made deals with creatures as those creatures in prophecies. It does not necessarily refer to your species, V,” Logan said.

“But I didn’t make a deal with the demon.”

“Then what happened, V? What is your story?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 36  
> Logan: 618 Miles  
> Rose: 533 Miles  
> Patton: 554 Miles  
> Virgil: 3,124 Miles


	27. Virgil

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Virgil(b.name): A roman poet said to have guided Dante through hell
> 
> !Warning!  
> Talk of illness

“Then what happened, V? What is your story?”

_That’s what it all comes down it, isn’t it? What the fuck happened._

“Once upon a time there was a little boy who lived in a small village in the northern part of the Semts desert. He had a normal upbringing, but one day when he was 16 he got sick. While he was in the healer’s house recovering, something happened, and he was rushed in to the truck and driven away.

“The boy was driven far. He was taken out of the desert entirely and in to a forest. The boy recovered quickly there, but the person who had driven him there had left, taking the truck with him. He began to search for a way to get back home.

“He went to see some spirits. They told him to find a genie. He went to a genie. He asked to be taken home, but the genie said it couldn’t do that. He asked the genie for purple hair, for 40 gold nicks, and to be taken to someone who could help him return home.

“The boy was taken to the fae realm. A faery attempted to take the boy’s name, then to indebt the boy to them, but quickly relented and took the boy out of the faery realm. The boy was left on the top of a mountain with sheer cliffs on every side.

“The boy kicked a rock down the mountain in frustration, and he was answered by a demon. The demon roared and flew around the base of the mountain. The boy said that he wanted to go home, and the demon pushed him off of the mountain.

“The boy survived. He wasn’t even hurt by the fall, but he landed next to what appeared to be a small star. He touched it, and a small line appeared in his hair. He looked around and saw a new star farther ahead. He recalled a legend about the stars leading wanderers home and decided to go to the star.

“The boy followed the stars to a village. He was wet and cold, so he went in to an inn. He only saw one empty seat, so he sat down next to three travelers. He introduced himself as V, but when he tried to say his pronouns were he/him, his voice locked up, so V said V didn’t have any pronouns.

“Legends say V is still wandering the continent following the stars with those three travelers as companions, trying to find V’s home. The end,” Virgil said. Virgil picked at a stray thread on the cuff of Virgil’s jacket.

“Okay,” Logan said. Virgil looked back at him, trying to read his expression.

“Now I suppose there is the puzzle of how we all fit together. Rose and V are linked through the demon, but goblins generally don’t create links, they just draw on them to nudge the future in little ways, so that leaves Patton and I as loose ends,” Logan said.

“Well, did the genie have anything to do with it? V and I both visited genies,” Patton suggested.

“Perhaps. Do you remember how you worded your wish to the genie?”

“Uh, the one to see my friends?” Logan nodded, gesturing for Patton to go on.

“I wish to journey to my friends. Oh, do you think the genie interpreted that as you guys instead of Emile and Remy?”

“That was precisely my line of thought,” Logan said.

“But how could the genie make us all meet up?” Virgil asked. Something in all of their stories didn’t quite fit together.

“How much time passed between meeting the demon and us?” Logan asked.

“3 days,” V said hesitantly.

“The genie and us?”

“3 days,” Patton replied.

“The spirits and us?”

“3 days,” Rose said.

“And 3 days passed between me meeting the goblins and meeting you. It was late at night when I received the prophecy.”

“The sun was barely starting to set,” Patton said.

“It was probably close to midnight,” Rose said.

“Midday,” Virgil said.

“One more question: how long did you plan before setting out? I planned for a week,” Logan said. His eyes gleamed in the light bouncing through the snowy forest. Honestly if Virgil hadn’t known Logan for a while and been able to count all 10 of his fingers Virgil might have thought him a faery.

“I didn’t really have a plan,” Virgil said.

“Me neither,” Rose said.

“Same thing,” Patton said.

Logan stopped walking to stare at them, “You know what? At least that explains why three separate travelers had zero supplies on them. How did you survive for three days?”

“Luck?” Patton suggested.

“Prophecy?” Rose suggested.

“I don’t know what I expected when I posed the question. In any case, that gives us a time table of first V encountering the demon, then Patton separately searching for his friends. The demon encounter caused Rose to run, and I separately left my settlement and was directed towards you.”

“Hey, why am I the only one who didn’t decide to run on their own?” Rose pouted.

“Aww, Rose-”

“I guess this has to be my chance to choose to run,” Rose cut Patton off, then started running along the path, slipping and sinking slightly in the powdery snow.

“Not if I catch you first!” Virgil yelled, starting to run, thanking the gods for the levity she created.

Virgil heard Logan sigh, “Teenagers,” just before Virgil reached through flight to catch up to Rose.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 36  
> Logan: 634 Miles  
> Rose: 549 Miles  
> Patton: 570 Miles  
> Virgil: 3,150 Miles


	28. Sentiment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sentiment(N): An idea colored by emotion

Logan paused, as they reached the end of the forest. A flat expanse of snow stretched out in front of them, and Logan was fairly sure he would have been blinded by the rays of sun bouncing across it if not for the darkening effect of his goggles. It looked like the lake in winter, but no islands rose out of its shiny breadth.

Logan carefully stepped in to it and looked up at the sky. He had to fight the urge to dash back to the treeline to grab a tree. It felt, impossibly, like he would fall in to the giant blue swath.

“Are you okay, Logan?” Patton asked. Logan tore his gaze away from the sky and back to his companions. V and Rose were a couple feet ahead, engrossed in a story V was telling, but they stopped at Patton’s question.

“I’m alright. I’m not used to not having trees obscuring the sky,” Logan said. He looked at their footprints, three trails confirming that they were just as grounded under the barren sky as the lattice of branches and needles.

“Oh, it took me forever to get used to having the sky above me. You should see it at sunrise, especially when there are clouds around,” Patton said, starting to float forward. Logan followed him.

“Actually, that gives me an idea for a great question, if you don’t mind me interrupting you two’s conversation,” Patton said.

“Sure. I can keep telling you later, R,” V said.

“Oh, no! You can finish your story. The question isn’t going anywhere.”

“Or is it?” V said dramatically, “There wasn’t much left to tell anyways. The little bastard jumped on to a rooftop and from then on would give us judgemental looks whenever we passed that house. As far as I know I’ll walk back in the village and that bastard will look at me like she thought I was dead and she would have preferred not to have her fantasy busted.”

“Okay, now I feel like I need in on some context,” Patton said.

“Cats don’t work by any mortal or immortal rules, P,” V replied seriously, “Anyways, what was your question?”

Patton was quiet for a moment. “I forgot it.”

“I warned you. Do you guys have cats over here?” V asked.

“There are mountain lions,” Rose offered.

“And I occasionally run in to bobcats,” Logan offered, “But they don’t enter settlements, and I believe they are larger than the cats you are referencing.”

“What does a big cat even do with all the spite that must be stored in it?” V asked.

“There are lots of stories that get told, but I don’t think all of them really happen,” Rose said.

“Bobcat cries can sometimes sound like a screaming child. There are many stories about them, as well, with some having more truth to them than others.”

“A cat that sounds like a kid? That sounds completely made up.”

“Well, I believe we are in bobcat territory, so you might be able to hear some tonight.”

“Alright, guess who’s not taking a turn on watch tonight?”

They laughed. It was a sound that a sentimental man might compare to music or gold. Logan was not a sentimental man, so he did not make those comparisons.

“Alright, I have a question for the group. What is everyone’s favorite time of day?” Logan asked when their laughter subsided.

“Easy: really late at night, to the point where it’s probably technically the next day. All the sane people are asleep, but sometimes a fellow probably-human sneaks out, too, and you look at each other, then go your separate ways and never speak about it again,” V said.

“I like sunset where the sky is all red and orange and it’s starting to cool off and quiet down,” Rose said, “All my best ideas for stories like to come at night, so it’s like a precursor to my most brilliant hours.”

“Well, I like sunrise where everything is still quiet, and the grass is still covered in dewdrops. I guess it’s kind of like sunset for you, Rose, where it feels like there’s all sorts of opportunities coming,” Patton said.

“I prefer midday. I generally take a break then, and it’s very calming to have a moment to eat something warm and read,” Logan said.

“Oo, you like to read, too? What genres?” Rose asked, clapping a little bit.

“I most often read science fiction and mystery novels,” Logan replied, “Although I assume that does not line up with your favorites?”

“Nope! I like lots of fantasy and adventure books. Patton and V, do you guys like to read?” Rose asked.

“Not really. They’re alright, but I prefer something more active to do, if that makes sense,” V shrugged.

“I didn’t really have a lot of time to read, and I’m not really the best reader, but I read to some of the younger kids from time to time, and the books had really nice stories,” Patton replied.

“Maybe after this we can share our books, Logan. I think you would have good books even if they’re not what I normally read.”

“That...sounds nice, Rose,” Logan said, surprised by her offer. It did sound nice to share some of his books with her and get some new reading material. It also surprised him to really be thinking of an after, although he supposed that with each day “after” grew closer. He found himself not liking the concept of this journey ending, even though his life would probably be easier if he wasn’t walking across the continent in the middle of winter. Logan shooed his thoughts out of his head to focus back on the conversation.

“I think I have some books that you would like, Logan and Patton, and you seem like you would be good at acting out the action scenes, V,” Rose said.

“Depends: do I get to use a sword?” V asked.

“If we can buy or make one, then absolutely!” Rose said.

“Alright, I’m in.”

They kept walking, talking about how they could act out one of Rose’s books that she insisted was the best one in her collection. And if Logan briefly let a smile creep on to his face, that was no one’s business but his own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 66  
> Logan: 1,115 Miles  
> Rose: 1,030 Miles  
> Patton: 1,051 Miles  
> Virgil: 3,631 Miles


	29. Feeling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feeling(N): An emotional state or reaction

Patton yawned and rolled over when he was gently shaken awake. Logan was already at work collapsing his tent. He said that his reasoning for the tent was that the trees weren’t blocking the wind, so it was colder, but Patton was pretty sure sleeping without branches obscuring the sky was still too disconcerting for him. V had joined Logan in the tent when he pointed out that it had enough room to sleep more people if anyone wanted to join him. V was currently wrestling V’s sleeping bag on to V’s backpack.

Patton boosted himself up in to his chair and started rolling up his sleeping bag. Rose, who had taken the last watch, was already standing up with her bag at her feet. Logan swung his backpack on at almost the same moment that Patton flipped the last buckle on his bag shut.

“Ready for day whatever of being dragged across the continent?” V asked.

“I believe we’re on day 67 now,” Logan said, “But yes, I am ready.”

“It doesn’t even feel like it’s been two months. I’m good to go,” Rose said, swinging her backpack on.

“Same here,” Patton said. If he had had to guess how long they had been traveling he probably would have said something a little under a month. It was more than a little disconcerting to see how far off he had been, although it did explain how short the days were and how much snow was on the ground. V started walking. The clouds of their breath mixed with snow, as the wind tossed up the powdery snow that had fallen overnight. Clouds still hovered in the sky, threatening to add more snow to the pile.

“Hmm, did you guys have any pets?” Patton asked, “My birth parents had a farm dog, but that’s it.”

“The bastard cat was about as close as any kid got to having a pet,” V replied.

“I didn’t have any pets,” Rose said.

“I did not have any pets, either, however my mother worked with the hippogriffs, so I spent a considerable amount of time with them growing up.”

“You got to have hippogriffs? How many?” Rose asked.

“The hippogriffs came and went often to deliver letters, but the village had two hippogriffs that belonged to it, so most of the time they were the only ones there. Before multi-town meetings there were sometimes up to 10 hippogriffs staying with us before continuing on to their destinations or returning.”

“Aww, what did the two you had look like?”

“We had a dapple grey/chickadee mare, although her dapples have most faded now, and a bay/sparrow mare. The chickadee mare, her name was Mint, delivered most of the messages while the sparrow mare, her name was Ivy stayed back unless there were multiple messages that needed to be delivered or Mint had recently returned from a delivery or was sick. They were both very sweet and let kids climb on them,” Logan replied.

“Why do other places get all the cool animals?”

“What, do you want a giant worm to swallow you whole?” V scoffed.

“You had giant worms?” Rose asked.

“Yeah. It’s part of why barriers are so important. They hunt by feel, and barriers disrupt that,” V said, summoning a barrier and walking a few steps on it to demonstrate before dropping back in to the snow.

“Remus would love that,” Rose said, her face scrunching up briefly in distaste.

“Well, we get pixies, and I don’t think they live this far north or in the desert,” Patton pointed out.

“Yeah, but pixies don’t do much besides look pretty and play small pranks,” Rose replied, “Hippogriffs and giant worms actually do stuff.”

“I’d prefer pixies playing pranks and looking pretty than a giant worm that tunnels through the sand and sometimes pops up to eat random stuff,” V said.

“I agree: the pixies seem to have at least a neutral effect in place of a negative effect,” Logan said.

“I wouldn’t call the worms negative. They help protect the desert, and they’re not that dangerous if you know how to make barriers. Honestly they’re probably part of the reason why the desert is so prosperous,” V said, “Besides, prepared right they’re practically candy with nutritional benefits.”

“You eat the worms?” Patton asked, horrified.

“Not that often because it’s dangerous and we have safer sources of food, but yeah. If you guys are lucky there might be a worm when we get to my village.”

“Count me out of trying worms,” Rose said.

“Fine: What’s your idea of a delicacy?” V asked, “Goes for you two, too.”

“I really like candied rose petals. Remus always jokes that it was cannibalism, but he likes them, too,” Rose said.

“Caramel is really good and sweet,” Patton offered.

“My mother makes a very good jam every spring,” Logan replied, “I ate so much of it even as a child that she started making a small jar that was just for me.”

V started laughing.

“Pardon?” Logan asked.

“Sorry, I was just trying to imagine baby Logan trying to spread jam on his food.”

“Oh, no, I ate it straight out of the jar.”

“That’s worse!” V snorted.

“I’m sure I’m not the only one with humorous stories from my childhood. Maybe you should share?”

“I’m good,” V said.

“Oh, one time we all went our caroling for the winter solstice, and one of the littlest Picanis, a little boy named Thomas, peed his pants in the middle of a song,” Patton jumped in.

“Oh, god, I’m so glad none of us knew each other so that we don’t have years of embarrassing stories to tell about each other,” V said.

“Give it a couple of years,” Patton said cheekily, “Then we’ll be telling stories about that one time we walked across the entire continent.”

They laughed again, continuing across the snowy plains.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 67  
> Logan: 1,129 Miles  
> Rose: 1,044 Miles  
> Patton: 1,065 Miles  
> Virgil: 3,645 Miles


	30. Spearmint

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spearmint(N): A common mint(Mentha spicata) grown for flavoring and especially for its aromatic oil.

Logan barely looked up when he heard wings flapping above him paired with a long whistle that had no real meaning, somewhat like a hummed tune of a song one wasn’t familiar with.

“Message for Logan Berry,” Mint chirped.

“Sender?” Logan sighed, chirping back.

“Asa Berry and Mathew Berry.”

_Of course._

Logan reached back and slid the message out of the tube attached to Mint’s back.

‘Dearest Logan, We miss you. The village needs its medic. Besides, who else am I going to give all the excess jam to? We know you took supplies and you’re very smart, but it has been two months. Please at least give Mint a message.

Kisses, Mom.

Hey, Logan, I don’t have much to say that your mom hasn’t already said. We love you, okay?

Take care of yourself, Dad.’

Logan sighed. Of course they had noticed. Honestly he should have been worried that Mint, Ivy, or another hippogriff hadn’t already found him.

“How find?” Logan chirped. Mint cooed a little bit, giving Logan a disapproving look.

“Fine. Settlement near?” Logan chirped.

“North and west. One day’s human flight?”

“Thank you,” Logan said, letting the message roll back up. He spared a glance at his companions, who were all staring at him from at least 10 feet away.

“She is a hippogriff, not a wolf,” Logan huffed, stroking Mint’s neck. She chirped and cooed.

“Is this Mint?” Rose asked, stepping forwards.

“Yes,” Logan replied.

“Oo, famous!” Mint chirped, then leaned in to Logan and whispered, “What do with fledglings?”

“Can’t chirp. Be kind.”

“Why can’t chirp?” Mint asked, cooing at Rose and dancing forwards.

“Southerners strange,” Logan shrugged.

“South? Travel far!”

“Yes. 2 months, travel far.”

“She’s beautiful,” Rose said, holding out her hands to Mint.

“Kind fledgling! Tell pet,” Mint said, impatiently bumping Rose’s hands with her beak.

“She wants you to pet her,” Logan translated.

“She’s so soft!” Rose squealed, her fingers lightly brushing through Mint’s feathers. Mint leaned in to her touch, cooing in encouragement.

“Soft fledgling. Logan’s chick?”

“Mint grew with humans. Know Rose not 2 months.”

“But Mint see not-egg family. Chair cute. Good mate.”

Logan spluttered out chirps that didn’t have any direct translation but were essentially insults.

“Mint not lie,” Mint said, fluffing her wings and nuzzling Rose, “Chair cute!”

“Patton fledgling!”

“Not-mate but still cute. Tell Patton cute.”

“Logan lucky Patton not chirp,” Logan chirped, glaring at her.

“Mint lucky Logan chirp and human sing. Tell Patton cute.”

“Lucky do not have to.”

“Not fair!”

“What’s she saying?” Patton asked, approaching Mint.

“Tell Patton cute.”

“She is saying how she would love to stay, but really has to get going now,” Logan said, looking firmly at Mint, who shook her head and lightly nipped Logan’s shoulder.

“Logan older than Mint,” Logan said, pushing Mint away.

“No care. Tell Patton cute.”

“No.”

“Tell. Patton. Cute.”

“No!”

“Yeah, I’m going to call bs based on whatever’s happening between you two right now,” V said, still giving Mint a wide berth.

“Smart Grape,” Mint approved.

“Grape?” Logan asked.

“Hair color like grape. Grape,” Mint explained, bobbing her head, “Tell Grape smart.”

“No.”

“Tell Grape smart, Patton cute, Rose soft or Mint stay to village,” Mint threatened.

“She’s telling me that there is a settlement about a day’s walk from here and that-” Logan paused to rack his brain for the best phrasing. “-She will travel with us until we reach it.”

“Not fun,” Mint complained, “Want ride?”

“She is now offering to let you ride her despite that fact that she has a message harness on,” Logan said disapprovingly.

“Don’t you need a helmet to ride?” Rose asked.

“It is advisable, yes,” Logan said.

“Mint calm, snow soft,” Mint protested, scrapping the snow with her talons.

“Not to crash the party, but shouldn’t we get moving?” V asked, “It’s pretty early, but if we want to reach the town by nightfall…” V trailed off with a shrug.

“That is also advisable,” Logan said, “Shall we?”

Rose and Patton voiced their agreement, and they started walking. Mint walked in front of them, breaking through the snow and creating a trail that hastened their progress. Logan watched, as she seemed to break in to a tunnel, and little rodents scattered away from the hole. Logan briefly considered laying there and watching what the rodents would do, but instead he carefully stepped over where the rodent’s tunnel used to be.

“How do you learn how to chirp?” Rose asked.

“You learn it the same way you would learn any other language. I can teach you a few phrases, if you’d like,” Logan said.

“Teach fledgling cute!” Mint chirped.

“What did she say?” Rose asked.

“She wants me to teach you how to say ‘cute’.”

“Aww, that’s a sweet one! How do you say it?” Patton asked. Logan sighed and chirped the word. Rose and Patton chirped it after him, and he slowly corrected their pronunciation in to a meaningful sound.

“Oh, can we say our names in hippogriff?” Rose asked.

“Alright, this is Rose,” Logan said, the chirped her name. The same cycle repeated until Rose and Patton could say a grand total of 8 words: Cute, Rose, Logan, V, Mint, Patton, smart, and soft.

“Rose soft!” Mint chirped triumphantly. Logan watched, as Rose paired the sounds with her new vocabulary, then smiled, as she got the meaning.

“Did she say I was soft?” Rose asked.

“Yes,” Logan said.

“Thank you!” Rose said, then switched to chirping, “Mint soft.”

Mint cooed happily, then moved on to her next task, “V smart!”

V took less time to process what was chirped and mumble a quiet, “Thanks.”

“Patton cute!” Logan watched Patton’s face, as it went from confusion to surprise, and he barely squeaked out a, “Thanks, Mint.”

“Jerk,” Logan chirped.

“Mint good!” Mint chirped back, proudly arching her wings over her back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 68  
> Logan: 1,149 Miles  
> Rose: 1,064 Miles  
> Patton: 1,085 Miles  
> Virgil: 3,665 Miles


	31. Prelude

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prelude(N): An introductory performance, action, or event preceding and preparing for the principal or a more important matter

Virgil frowned when Virgil saw lights up ahead. The fact there were lights wasn’t too unusual, as it just meant there was a village up ahead, but these lights were yellow and green.

“I hadn’t realized it was the solstice today,” Logan commented.

“Oo, you guys celebrate the solstice, too?” Patton asked.

“I think that’s a semi-universal celebration, yes,” Logan replied.

“How do you celebrate it?” Rose asked.

“We have a large feast and dance. In many of the smaller religions practiced in the area that day belongs to a deity of love, so many less...child friendly activities usually occur, as well. Most people also participate in a large gift exchange where each person is assigned a partner and they get gifts for each other,” Logan replied, “People often add chemicals to their fires to make them burn red or purple, as well.”

“You can do that?” Rose asked.

“Yes:using the correct combination of chemicals can produce any color of flames. I can show you if I can get the necessary chemicals,” Logan replied.

“Will they have it here?” Rose asked.

“I don’t know. It seems like they do since they have green flames, however they may not have the chemicals for red or purple flames,” Logan said.

“I bet the solstice would be a lot more interesting with colored lights, but getting to pass around gifts is nice. We celebrated by getting the family together and eating and giving everyone gifts and making a giant bonfire. Also, the day after there would be a big fair in the village,” Rose said.

“Oh, that’s cool! The Picani solstice celebration was a lot about family, too. The solstice celebration usually lasted for 10 days, I think we had a 12 day one once, but basically there was one candle for every group of kids the same age: so there was a 5-year-old candle, 6-year-old candle, and so on until you got to whoever was oldest at the time. Most of the time we consolidated everyone over 20 in to one ‘adult’ candle.

“Anyways, we started burning the candles going from the oldest down. Every day the people represented by the burning candle played this dice game until there was one person for every age group. Then those people all played together, and the winning person got to pick a solstice gift. Then Toby would go out in to town and buy whatever the solstice gift was, usually some sort of candy. “When Toby came back he would pass out all the candy then everyone over 15 would take turns telling stories, ending with Toby and the story about how the tradition started. I’m pretty sure all of that has more to do with the Picanis than the rest of the people around, though.Sometimes we went caroling, too,” Patton said.

“Why do all of your celebrations have to do with burning things?” Virgil asked.

“It’s probably in part due to the practicalities of keeping warm in winter,” Logan replied.

“Also it has symbolism! You burn things, and then the ash is really good fertilizer, just like how winter freezes everything which makes room for all the new life in spring!” Rose chimed in, not taking a single breath.

“Rhetorical question but interesting answers,” Virgil said, then looked up at the flap of wings.

“Ah, it’s Ivy this time,” Logan commented. They stopped and waited while a brown hippogriff landed. The hippogriff, Ivy, chirped something. Virgil was pretty sure it included the words Logan, Patton, and cute, but Virgil understood the least hippogriff of the group. Regardless, Logan was blushing and Patton was clumsily chirping something back. Logan took the message from Ivy and began to read:

“Dear Logan, Patton, Rose, and V,

“It’s great to hear from you all! We hope you’re staying warm and find somewhere nice to spend on the solstice. We sent some color powder for your fire. We don’t have a lot to say because we’ve been busy organizing the gift exchange this year.

“Stay warm and safe,

“Asa and Matthew."

“Thank you for the letter, Ivy. If it’s alright we’ll go to this settlement tonight and send a message back with you,” Logan said. Ivy chirped back what Virgil was pretty sure was an over-complicated way to say ‘okay.’

“Well, Virgil, how did you celebrate the solstice?”

“Not with fire,” Virgil quipped, “We honestly didn’t do much. The fall equinox was the big one for us with the market. We did all our barrier renewal and any grievances were wrapped up, but it was mostly a dry and functional thing. And I had my birthday in the midst of all the talk about planting spaces and wandering goats. It sucked: Spring equinox is the best festival, and I will fight you on that.”

“Your birthday is today?” Patton asked.

“Somewhere in this timeframe, yeah. Not sure exactly what today is,” Virgil shrugged.

“Maybe this town can convince you that the winter solstice is the best festival,” Rose said.

“I just said I’d fight you on that.”

“How about we try every game in there and you can see where you stand?” Rose offered.

“You’re on,” Virgil replied, shaking hands with Rose.

“How about we find somewhere before you run around the village?”

“Fine, but we probably won’t be back until morning, so book two nights,” Virgil replied.

“Teenagers,” Logan sighed.

“Grandpas,” Virgil shot back.

“I’m 6 years older than you.”

“And that matter for teenagers, but not for grandpas?” Virgil asked.

“I could argue this point, but I will not.”

“You hear him? Not getting in to pointless arguments? I never want to get old enough for that,” Virgil joked. Logan shook his head, and they walked on, yellow and green lights leading the way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 98  
> Logan: 1,603 Miles  
> Rose: 1,518 Miles  
> Patton: 1,539 Miles  
> Virgil: 4,119 Miles


	32. Solstice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Solstice(N): Either of the two points on the ecliptic at witch its distance from the celestial equator is greatest and which is reached by the sun each year about June 21 and December 21

Rose smoothed down the front of her skirt and smiled at herself in the mirror. It felt good to be in a dress again, even though she didn’t mind the shirt and pants that she had been travelling in. She stepped out of the room in the inn to where Logan, Patton, and V were waiting.

“Oh, that’s a cute dress,” Patton said.

“Thank you!” Rose smiled.

“We’ll see you at sunrise,” V said, grabbing Rose’s hand and practically dragging her towards the front door.

“Have fun!” Patton called back, waving at them. Rose ran after V out of the inn and in to the swirling lights and music of the town.

_Maybe this isn’t such a good idea,_ Rose though, eyeing the psychedelic display that would likely get brighter, not dimmer, as the night went on.

_Nope! We’re here to have fun, and we will have fun._

“Alright, what’s first, Rose?” V asked, still holding Rose’s hand. Rose gently tugged it away, and V dropped it without complaint.

“Well, I’m hungry, so I think we should eat something first,” Rose said.

“Where to?” V asked.

“The big question is what to eat: a meal or fairground candy.”

“It’s a festival; let’s go with candy,” V said. Rose grabbed V’s hand and lead the way in to the hurricane of lights. Their first stop was a candy stand where they each filled up a bag of candy, then they found the source of the music and sat down to eat. Neither of them managed to come close to finishing their candy, but they tucked their leftovers away as snacks for later.

“What’s next?” Rose shouted over the music, trying to ignore the way it throbbed through her body.

“Do you know how to dance?” V asked.

“A bit,” Rose said, standing up. She lead the way on to the dance floor. They danced and laughed. Rose tried not to flinch every time she felt a skirt or sleeve brush her skin. She tried to focus on the way the lights reflected across V’s face like storm clouds and sunbeams. She tried to focus on the pulse of the music. But even her skin seemed to pull her the wrong way, fire light poked around the edges of V’s face and seared in to her eyes, every piece of fabric on the crowded dance floor seemed to want to touch her, and each beat of music seemed to add another nail screeching across a chalkboard.

_Words, words, say..._

“Break?” Rose asked.

“What?” V said, shouting to be heard over the music.

“Can we take a break?” Rose said louder.

“Yeah,” V said, leading her off of the dance floor. V stopped near where they had been sitting before, but Rose kept walking towards the darkness she could see nearby. A half-second glance behind her confirmed that V was following her. Rose sank down on the gravel path under the far-away starlight. The faded sounds of the performers and fair-goers still carried to her ears, but not to the point where ripping off her ears would be less painful than staying.

“Uh, are you okay, R?” V asked.

“Yeah. It was just too loud. It’s like the natural version of the screaming thing,” Rose said, rubbing her ears. It was cold out here, especially since her dress wasn’t really meant to stand up against cold weather. “I’ll be fine, though, now that we got out of all the sound and light.”

“Ah,” V said, sitting down about a foot from her. They sat in comfortable silence for a minute.

“Why’d you call me R?” Rose asked.

“Oh, in the desert it was a big thing that names have power and all that, so you’re really only supposed to call people by letters or nicknames,” V said, “Force of habit, I guess. I can call you something else if you prefer.”

“I think you can make more creative nicknames than ‘R’, Stormcloud.”

“Stormcloud? Alright, Lady Songbird,” V said.

“That’s more like it! Now we should go play some games like we planned.”

“I’ll beat you in all of them!”

“You wish!” Rose called back, walking as fast as she(safely) could in to the quietest area in the haze of yellow and green. It was still more fanfare and light than she would have liked, but thankfully it wasn’t enough to overwhelm her. V was surprisingly good at some of the more athletic games, although Rose caught V giving V a little help with barriers on some of the target games, and Rose felt no remorse at using her own barriers to thoroughly beat V when it was her turn to play those games.

When the sun rose it was unclear who had won more games, and they decided to call it a draw before stumbling back to the inn, drunk on sugar and sleep-deprivation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 98  
> Rose: 1,518 Miles  
> Virgil: 4,119 Miles


	33. Solstice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Solstice(N): Either of the two points on the ecliptic at witch its distance from the celestial equator is greatest and which is reached by the sun each year about June 21 and December 21

“Have fun!” Patton said, waving to V and Rose, as they ran down the hallway. He leaned over his wheels to look at Logan, only to discover he was not there. Patton backed up enough that he could maneuver the door to their room open, cursing in his mind about how narrow the hallway was. He succeeded in opening the door, then started the process of turning his chair to enter the room, which was probably even more difficult than getting the door open.

“Would you like my help?” Logan asked.

“Yes, please,” Patton said, straightening his wheelchair so that Logan could mess with it. Honestly it probably took the same amount or more time as it would have with Patton maneuvering, but at least it gave his arms a break. Logan finally closed the door behind them and went over to the desk to finish writing back to his parents.

Patton hadn’t gone in to the room yet because he had wanted to see V and Rose off and deal with getting in and out of the room as little as possible. It was small, but there was enough room for him to comfortably turn around. Two small beds were shoved in to the corners on opposite sides of the door, and a dresser and desk occupied the far wall. Logan was at the desk, writing. Patton popped on to the bed that Logan had put Patton’s bag on, laying back and listening to the sound of Logan writing.

“I wrote my message, if you’d like to conclude the letter,” Logan said a moment later, standing up from the desk.

“Thank you,” Patton said, sliding back in to his chair and rolling the short distance to the desk. He wrote a short note wishing them a happy solstice and signed it off on the bottom. He rolled back to look at Logan, who was rummaging in his pack.

“The letter’s done,” Patton said.

“Excellent. I will give it to Ivy in the morning,” Logan replied, finally finding what he was looking for: a needle and thread.

“What’s your plan for the evening?” Patton asked.

“I am planning on sewing up a small hole I discovered in my jacket, then washing our clothes,” Logan replied.

“Can you do it tomorrow?”

“Pardon?”

“You booked these rooms for two days, right? Why not go out and enjoy the solstice?”

“I thought that was what V and Rose were doing.”

“They are! But we can go enjoy the solstice, too.”

“Alright. I assume we will be back before sunrise, though,” Logan said.

“Oh, yeah. I hope they won’t stay up until sunrise.”

“I don’t think you know them well enough, Patton.”

“I said I hope, not that I think they won’t!” Patton protested.

“Fair enough,” Logan said, opening the door. Patton shimmied himself out of the door and down the hallway. As soon as they went outside they were swept up in the music and lights of the holiday. Even in the short time they had been inside the festivities seemed to have magnified.

“Might I suggest we eat dinner, first?” Logan asked.

“Sounds good to me!” Patton replied, and they struck out to find a restaurant. Conversation over dinner was impossible because of the noise, so their attempts at communication quickly devolved in to pointing at things that caught their eyes.

“Do you want to play some games?” Patton asked, pointing out the games that lined the streets. Logan nodded, and they spent a few minutes going between some of them, but the games weren’t the most engaging thing. Patton suggested that they dance, and at another nod, they scouted out where the music was coming from.

The dance floor thankfully wasn’t too crowded except for in one corner where some sort of dance battle seemed to be happening. Neither Patton nor Logan really knew how to dance, so they mostly bobbed along to the music. Patton occasionally spun in circles, and Logan demonstrated some sort of footwork that he had learned. In the end they probably weren’t out for longer than an hour or two before they hunted down the inn again. Patton popped on to his bed, stretching out on it.

“That was fun, wasn’t it?” he asked.

“Yes. If we ran in to a similar festival I’d probably go to it again, although I wouldn’t seek it out,” Logan agreed, threading his needle.

“Yeah, same here. I think Rose and V are still out there, though.”

“They did say that they wouldn’t be back until sunrise.”

Patton hummed, “Want any help with that?”

“No, thank you. The inn provided extra paper, if you’re bored, or we could talk.”

“Eh, not really, unless you want to chat.”

“I am indifferent,” Logan replied.

Patton hummed again and made no move to get up, content to enjoy the feeling of a warm bed and the muffled music of the festival.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 98  
> Logan: 1,603 Miles  
> Patton: 1,539 Miles


	34. Intermit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Intermit(V): To cause to cease for a time or at intervals

Virgil blinked at the light streaming in through the window. Rose and Virgil’s combined haul of candy and small fairground prizes laid across the dresser. Rose herself was still curled up on her bed, presumably asleep.

Even though Virgil was awake Virgil didn’t have any real motivation to get up. Virgil shifted a little bit so that Virgil’s feet were in the small corner of sunlight and closed Virgil’s eyes, soaking in the quietness of it all. Virgil could hear the faint clip of horse-shoed hooves on paved streets and a murmur of bustle from the streets outside. A bird twittered obnoxiously outside of the window. Virgil glanced up when Virgil heard the door open to see Patton roll in.

“Hey, kiddo. Hungry?” Patton whispered.

“Yeah,” Virgil whispered back, sitting up and rubbing Virgil’s eyes, “What time is it?”

“About midday.”

“Really?” Virgil whispered, looking out the window, which didn’t give Virgil any information.

“Logan and I were getting ready for lunch,” Patton said.

“I’m coming,” Virgil said, slowly standing up and stretching.

“Ah, so you’re alive,” Logan said when Virgil joined him in the hallway.

“You don’t seem so happy about that, L.”

“Yay!” Logan said with clearly-faked enthusiasm. “In all honestly, I am happy at your continued existence.”

“You, too?” Virgil said.

“Shall we eat?” Logan asked.

“Yeah,” Virgil said.

“Did you see anywhere good last night?” Patton asked.

“Nah, Rose and I just ate candy.”

“You stayed up until sunrise eating candy,” Logan said.

“Yeah. Didn’t you do anything like that in ye olden days of your teenage-dom?”

“Fair point, I suppose. Patton and I found a good restaurant, if you have no complaints.”

“Sounds good,” Virgil said. Virgil fidgeted, as they waited for Patton to get his wheelchair out of the room.

“How many times have you had to do this?” Virgil asked once Patton got his chair straightened.

“Oh, not that many times. When I was checking on you and Rose I just left the doors open and rolled straight forward, then went straight backwards,” Patton said.

“How many times have you checked on us?” Virgil asked.

“Once I woke up I checked in every hour until you got there sometime between my second and third checks, then I left you alone until mid-morning, so it’s probably my fifth or sixth time? You’re very cute while asleep. I won’t tell anyone about how you hug your pillow.”

“Patton, Logan is right there,” Virgil said, feeling Virgil’s cheeks heat up to approximately the temperature of the sun.

“Oops,” Patton said, the grin on his face showing that he knew exactly what he was doing. Virgil glared at him.

“That is a pleasant visual,” Logan said.

“You’re making it worse!” Virgil complained, “New rule: No embarrassing people before breakfast.”

“Well, I suppose we should eat so that we aren’t violating those rules. Although it is after our breakfast…” Logan said, smiling a little.

“I will fight you.”

“Would you hug blankets in absence of extra pillows?”

Virgil hissed. _He’s just teasing me,_ Virgil reminded Virgil, but if Virgil was a cat Virgil’s hackles would be raised and claws out.

“Alright, let’s stop tormenting Virgil and get some food,” Patton thankfully came to Virgil’s rescue.

Logan nodded, and they finally headed out for food. The food was bland by Virgil’s normal standard, but compared to the stuff Logan packed it was like eating straight up peppers. Virgil cleaned Virgil’s plate in record time, then surreptitiously stole a bite off of Logan’s plate. Virgil was pretty sure Logan noticed, but he made no move to challenge Virgil. They chatted about nothing in particular, each of them content to enjoy a lazy day.

Logan paid, and they headed back to the inn. Virgil peaked in to Virgil’s room to see Rose still fast asleep. Virgil closed the door and followed Patton in to his and Logan’s room.

“I’m going to clean my clothes if you’d like me to wash your jacket, V. The same thing goes for you, too, Patton,” Logan said, patting a small stack of clothing. Virgil shrugged off Virgil’s jacket and threw it at him. Logan caught it and folded it neatly before adding it to the stack. Patton handed his jacket over, too, and Logan disappeared down the stairs. Virgil rubbed Virgil’s arms once. It felt weird to not be wearing Virgil’s jacket anymore, even though the room wasn’t that chilly.

“Think L will mind if I steal his blanket?” Virgil asked, picking up a corner of the blanket in question.

“He’d probably tell you not to do it, but I don’t think he’d get mad,” Patton replied from his bed.

“Cool,” Virgil said, grabbing the blanket and spreading it out in the beam of light from the window and stretching out in the sunlight.

“How long do you think it’ll take Rose to wake up?” Virgil asked.

“Honestly? We might have to wake her up for dinner.”

Virgil snorted, “We’ll be like, ‘Hey, yeah, you slept for the entire day, time to eat, alright, time to go back to sleep.’”

Patton laughed, and they kept joking and chatting, intermittent with the silence of friends who no longer needed each moment to be filled for it to be enjoyable. It turned out Rose did not sleep all the way until dinner, although she woke up within an hour of dinner, so, really, it was just lines in the sand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 100  
> Logan: 1,603 Miles  
> Rose: 1,518 Miles  
> Patton: 1,539 Miles  
> Virgil: 4,119 Miles


	35. Approach

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Approach(V): To draw closer to

Logan glanced up when he heard wing beats above him, but he only saw a shadow passing above him. It was a little early to expect another letter from his parents, but he didn’t know of any creature other than a hippogriff that would have such loud wing beats. Whatever it was had to be very fast flyer, as it had already disappeared in to another stretch of unbroken grey-blue sky.

“Where do you think that thing was going?” V asked, squinting at the sky.

“Pardon?”

“Big flying thing? Did you see it?” V clarified, still scanning the sky.

“I did. It was probably on its way to a settlement that we will pass,” Logan replied, scanning the horizon for any hint of fire or the outlines of buildings. There was nothing. When he thought about it, the solstice had been the last settlement they had run in to. Usually they at least saw one even if their path didn’t take them through it at least every two weeks. Logan brushed off his concerns. They hadn’t run in to a river lately, either, so the lack of settlements was probably just due to the logistics of building a permanent settlement.

“I hope we get to a village soon. It’s freezing,” V muttered.

“It has been for a long time,” Logan pointed out.

“Yeah, whatever. It’s even more freezing.”

“Well, we have started to gain elevation. We should start seeing the foot hills of the Semts mountains very soon.”

“Oh, shit, we’re that close?” V asked, scanning the horizon.

“Yes,” Logan nodded,

“At least I believe so. We can ask Ivy or Mint to verify when they come by again.”

“That feels so weird,” V said, “Oh, gods, now I’m fantasizing about walking on sand. Sand is a bitch.”

“Language!” Patton protested.

“Sand feels good!” Rose said.

“Sorry, Patton. Rose, you haven’t been to the desert before. This thing,” V paused to wave the loose end of V’s scarf around, “Helps keep the fu-freaking sand out of your face. The wind blows, and woosh, all the sand just lifts up and scoots over. It’s like snow, but it’s dry, doesn’t melt, and doesn’t pack together well.

“Oh, and don’t get me started on temperatures. During the day you can cook by just setting a pan out on a big dark stone, but then at night it would probably snow if there was any water,” V said.

“If you hate it so much why do you live there?” Rose asked.

“What made you think I hated it? It’s a hell-scape, but it’s my hell-scape. Besides, people out here don’t use magic, and I’m not letting a little bit of sand and stupid tempertures scare me away from magic.”

Rose flicked a small barrier at V.

“And who taught you how to do that?” V asked, flicking a small barrier right back at her.

Logan’s gaze shot to the sky, as the sound of wing beats returned.

“Busy town?” Patton asked, squinting up at it, too.

“It must be,” Logan said uneasily. It didn’t stack up. The shapes were going to fast for messenger hippogriffs. People in this area didn’t really use hippogriffs to communicate. Why would two hippogriffs go in the same direction within a few minute’s span?

“I’ll be looking forward to fire. We should have cut some firewood back where there were trees.”

“And who would have carried all of that firewood?” Logan asked.

“Rose and me.”

“Hey, don’t bring me in to this!” Rose protested.

“Relax, barriers weigh nothing. You put things inside of barriers, and boom, they weigh nothing, too.” V said.

“Can you put fire inside a barrier?”

“You could if there was wood and stuff in there, why?”

“Floating barrier lanterns.”

“This feels too easy. Why haven’t we been doing that?” V said, making a barrier float next to V’s head.

“Okay, what other cool barrier ideas have you been sitting on?” V asked, “Anyone’s answer.”

“Lanterns, and what if you made windows out of tinted barriers so that when the sun came in it looked all pretty,” Rose said.

“Okay, that we can just do with glass, and that takes way less energy,” V pointed out.

“On a practical side, putting barriers underneath messy projects would likely make clean-up much faster,” Logan pointed out, “And prevent small parts from getting stuck in small crevices.”

“True, much less whimsical, but you are Logan.”

“I can be whimsical.” V raised an eyebrow at Logan.

“Are you challenging me to create a whimsical idea?” Logan asked.

“Absolutely,” V said.

“A clock that has a shifting backdrop that shows the current color of the sky in a specified location,” Logan said and was met by silence.

“It’s whimsical, but…” Rose paused, trailing off.

“It’s very Logan-brand whimsical,” V supplied.

“Yes! It’s Logan-brand whimsical.”

“In my opinion, floating lanterns are very Rose-brand whimsical, if we’re going that route,” Logan pointed out, then looked up, as more wingbeats drew his attention.

“I don’t think those are hippogriffs,” Rose said.

“Yeah. Logan?” V asked.

“I don’t know what they are,” Logan said, “If I were alone I would likely detour, but as it is…”

“Stars lead forward,” V said, pulling V’s hood tighter around V’s head.

“Whatever it is probably won’t bother us,” Logan said, unsure if he was saying it to comfort himself or his companions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 128  
> Logan: 2,024 Miles  
> Rose: 1,939 Miles  
> Patton: 1,960 Miles  
> Virgil: 4,540 Miles


	36. Reveal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reveal(V): To make (something or secret) publicly or generally known
> 
> !Warning!  
> Spiraling thoughts, gorey imagery, thoughts of death

“Here’s the star,” Virgil said, grabbing the tiny ball of light. Warmth prickled at the back of Virgil's neck, almost like blood, and Virgil reached back instinctively to check it. Virgil only felt Virgil's skin and hair.

_Of course. The stars don’t cut you._

_The stars don’t feel warm, either._

Virgil opened Virgil's mouth to joke about how cold it was, or maybe make another dig about bringing firewood, but wing beats quickly knocked the quip out of Virgil's mouth. Virgil looked up to see a black shadow slowly circling closer.

And closer.

And closer.

“Logan?” Rose asked, her voice barely creeping up to a whisper.

“That’s a griffin,” Logan confirmed at the same volume. The shadow circled closer. Virgil felt Virgil’s heart pound, as disaster scenarios started to jumble in Virgil’s brain.

“Alright, I’m out of here,” Virgil said, only to run straight in to a barrier.

_Rose is getting good._

“What’s with the barrier, Potpourri?”

“You see danger, and your first instinct is to run away from the only person who might know what to do?” Rose asked, although her tone didn’t leave much to argue.

“Fight or flight, and I choose flight,” Virgil still chose to argue.

_Haha, I’m not going to live to the age where you stop getting in to pointless arguments._

“Both of those are bad options,” Logan supplied unhelpfully.

“Well, what are we supposed to do?” Virgil huffed, Virgil’s voice betraying Virgil by wobbling. Virgil leaned subtly against Rose’s barrier so that the moment she dropped it Virgil could make a break for it. The barrier felt solid even with her gaze fixed on the sharp talons that were gaining more and more clarity, as the griffin descended and not the barrier.

“Wait,” Logan said.

“Wait?” Virgil said incredulously.

“Wait.”

Virgil looked at the sky. Virgil’s mind unhelpfully supplied images of the glinting talons sticking out of each of their corpses like mountains against the unforgiving sky-

“In, 2, 3, 4, hold, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, out, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,” Patton counted. 

Virgil's mind gave Virgil images of Patton’s wheelchair ripped apart like a cracked toy left out in a storm after being forgotten one too many times-

Virgil’s lungs tried to fight Virgil, as Virgil pushed the air out, trying not to pay attention to the way Patton’s counts kept time with the wing beats.

“In, 2, 3, 4, hold, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, out, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.”

-blood and sinew coating the griffin’s beak, as it ate its fill right at the site of the carnage-

Virgil pulled air in to Virgil’s lungs, the cold ripping at the inside of Virgil’s nose and mouth.

“In, 2, 3, 4, hold, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, out, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.”

-Images of them debating what to do with the remnants of Virgil’s torn body, of Rose’s torn body, of Patton’s torn body, of Logan’s torn body-

Virgil puffed out Virgil’s cheeks on the holding counts.

“In, 2, 3, 4, hold, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, out, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.”

-them wandering the plains, having to be guided by where Rose didn’t scream-

The griffin was close enough that Virgil could see the claws on its feline paws scraping at the air.

“In, 2, 3, 4, hold, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, out, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.”

-them wandering the plains, lost because Rose’s mysterious force died with Virgil-

Patton gently bumped Vigril’s hand. Virgil took Patton’s hand in between both of Virgil’s.

“In, 2, 3, 4, hold, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, out, 2, 3, 4-”

Touchdown.

Virgil was vaguely aware of their breaths shuddering out in to the wind.

_We’re all going to die._

The griffin was huge: even taller than Logan. Its eyes stared at them, and its tail swished across the ground, sending up flurries of snow. Logan chirped at it. The griffin fluffed out impossibly long wings, hunching them in a way that didn’t strike Virgil as very friendly. Logan let out another series of chirps and backed up a little. The griffin strode forward, keeping the gap exactly the same.

More wing beats.

_We’re going to die, we’re going to die, we’re going to die, we’re going to-_

Whistles screamed around the plains, as if the snow itself was singing. Virgil couldn’t have run if it occurred to Virgil to do so. Mint chirped and whistled so fast, Virgil wasn’t even sure if it could have meant anything. The griffin responded, then left as quickly as it came, that is, not fast at all. No one moved, as the griffin’s features were swallowed by distance with agonizing slowness.

Logan was the first to move, adjusting his goggles and unnecessarily brushing down the front of his coat.

“My name is Virgil!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 128  
> Logan: 2,025 Miles  
> Rose: 1,940 Miles  
> Patton: 1,961 Miles  
> Virgil: 4,541 Miles


	37. Reaction

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reaction(N): A response to some treatment, situation, or stimulus

“My name is Virgil!”

There was silence except for the slowly fading sound of wing beats and the whisper of wind across empty space.

“Vir-gil,” Logan said slowly, drawing out the two syllables.

V...Virgil...V… Rose tried to get her mind to wrap around the two syllables, but it refused.

“I like it. Virgil’s a very nice name,” Patton said.

The silence stretched on. Rose fumbled back from her mind to let the barrier drop. V/Virgil stumbled, as it dropped, falling in to the snow. Mint chirped once at Rose, poking her back.

“Didn’t mean to be mean. Need time,” Rose chirped back defensively.

“Say to Virgil,” Mint chirped.

Rose looked at the boots V/Virgil was wearing. They were scuffed from months of walking, and her own shoes were in even worse condition. Patton’s shoes were the only pair of shoes that wasn’t worse for wear, although Logan’s shoes, which were clearly made to stand up to hiking around, weren’t doing too badly. Mint chirped again.

“Virgil,” Rose said. The syllables felt light and inconsequential in her mouth.

“Virgil,” Rose said again, drawing out the R to try and pull it in to her mouth.

“Virgil,” Rose tried again. It was better now, but it still felt like the slightest breeze would tear it from her mouth.

“You can just call me Verge,” V/Virgil/Verge stopped her.

“Verge. So does this mean I have to stop calling you nicknames?”

“No, you can keep doing that.”

“Alright, Mx Sandman,” Rose said, “But what’s better: V, Virgil, or Verge?”

“They’re all the same to me,” V/Virgil/Verge shrugged.

“Okay, Verge,” Rose said.

“Virgil, Virgil, smart human, smart name,” Mint chirped.

“Okay: I have no idea what you said,” Verge said, snapping Verge’s fingers and pointing to Mint.

“She said you’re smart, and that you have a smart name,” Logan said.

“Uh, thanks?”

“Well, now that we have that out of the way, I suppose I should explain the griffin.”

“Walk to griffins, don’t know about griffins?” Mint chirped to Logan.

“I didn’t know this was griffin territory, Mint,” Logan replied, “Anyways, will you be returning-”

“Almost killed and return? No! No! No!” Mint trilled, punctuating each ‘no’ by pecking Logan’s shoulder.

“So, Mint will be staying with us, at least until we leave griffin territory, so we shouldn’t need to worry about a stand-off like that again. That being said, we will have to stay close to Mint. If any one of you manages to get separated, stay put. Virgil and Rose, you should put up a barrier if you cannot see the sky or if a griffin is circling you. Otherwise, do not use magic, understood?” Logan asked.

“What about me?” Patton asked.

“Land and stay put,” Logan said, “Mint is able to locate people through…”

“Logan,” Mint chirped.

“...practices she is not allowed to disclose at this moment.”

“At all,” Mint corrected him, but Logan ignored her.

“We will find you no matter where you end up. If you’re in an unsafe location, go west, or if you can’t find or go west, travel in a straight line. Understood?” Logan asked.

“But what if a griffin finds us?” Rose asked.

“Your barrier should be enough to stop it. You can try to placate it by saying that you’re a traveler and you’re just passing through. Hippogriff chirping is mutually understandable with griffin chirping,” Logan said, “But now I think we should rest.”

“Can I veto that? I’m too hyped up on adrenaline to sleep,” Verge said.

“Me, too,” Rose said.

“Lead the way, then,” Logan shrugged.

“The next star won’t appear until we sleep,” Verge said.

“Then I probably won’t be able to move very far,” Rose sighed, rocking back and forth on her heels.

“Fledglings ride?” Mint offered.

“Fine. Not far,” Logan chirped back.

“Mint know! Message off,” Mint chirped.

“Oh, I had forgotten that you brought a message,” Logan said, stepping forward and unfastening the message and container from Mint. Mint shook our her feathers, then looked at Rose expectantly.

“I will wait to read it until everyone is ready,” Logan said.

“Okay,” Rose said, approaching Mint, “How do I get on?”

“I’ll help you,” Logan said, “Patton, do you mind holding this?”

“No problem!” Patton replied, taking the message and container. Logan lifted Rose up on to Mint. Rose put her hands on Mint’s back, right between her wings.

“Ready?” Mint chirped.

“Yes,” Rose chirped back. Mint started walking slowly. Rose wrapped her legs around Mint. The feeling of muscles, feather, and fur under her made Rose giddy, and if she thought she could balance without her hands on Mint’s neck she would have been clapping like crazy. All too soon Mint stopped and gently clucked at her to get off. Rose thanked her and slid off, then let her hands go free to clap.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 128  
> Logan: 2,025 Miles  
> Rose: 1,940 Miles  
> Patton: 1,961 Miles  
> Virgil: 4,541 Miles


	38. Flurry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Flurry(N): 1b A brief light snowfall: 2a A brief period of commotion or excitement

Patton floated next to Mint. He glanced up at the sound of wingbeats above them. Mint followed his gaze and chirped a series of nonsense sounds. Patton reached out absentmindedly to stroke her neck.

“That’s the second griffin we’ve seen within an hour. We’re probably close to a nest,” Logan said. Mint ruffled her feathers, flapping her wings once.

“Better idea?” Logan chirped.

“Kill,” Mint said.

Logan hummed, then chirped back, “Possibility.”

Patton didn’t really want to think about the possibility of the griffins killing something. They hadn’t had any problems with griffins since that first encounter about a week ago, but there was still the lingering threat of wing beats above their heads.

“I don’t want to think about that,” Virgil said, shoving Virgil’s hands in to Virgil’s pockets.

“Want close?” Mint offered.

“Still don’t understand you,” Virgil muttered.

"She’s offering to walk closer to you,” Patton said, petting Mint again at her slightly offended chirp.

“I don’t think that’d help,” Virgil replied. A griffin screeched something ahead, and Patton scanned the sky for its source, but he couldn’t find it.

“Well, I hope it’s a nest. If the activity is due to a nesting sight it means we’re near the mountains,” Logan said. Another screech sounded, and a griffin flew in to view, starting to circle. Mint immediately began to sing, spreading her wings out. Mint and the griffin sang back and forth for a while. Mint eventually ran forward a little bit and took off, starting to circle up.

“Stop,” Logan said quietly, his eyes firmly on the sky. Patton floated to Virgil, and, remembering what had happened last time, offered Virgil his hand. Virgil took it without taking Virgil’s eyes off of the faint shape of Mint against the sky and the darker silhouette of the griffin. The griffin flew off, and Mint coasted back down, landing with a showy kick of flourish.

“Yes, thank you, Mint,” Logan said.

“Walk far,” Mint said, nudging the air to encourage them to keep moving. Patton, Rose, and Logan started walking without a comment.

“When did Mint become team leader?” Virgil asked, jogging a couple steps to catch up.

“She has the most knowledge,” Logan replied.

Virgil shrugged, “I’m ready to get out of griffin territory.”

“I think we all are, kiddo,” Patton said.

“Unfortunately we may not leave griffin territory until we reach the desert,” Logan said, “They nest in mountains, and some of the early nesters may be building nests already.”

“Aw, I hope we get to see baby griffins,” Rose said.

“Me, too! As long as we can do it safely. Baby anythings are so cute!” Patton said, imagining a fluffy little griffin peaking out of an egg.

“You haven’t seen a hatchling hippogriff,” Logan said.

“Be nice!” Mint chirped.

“Oh, what does a hatchling hippogriff look like?” Patton asked.

“Well, they are born at about a forth of their adult size, and they are able to stand up almost immediately. Their horse half has very fluffy fur, and the bird half has only haphazard tufts of fluff along their neck,” Logan said. Mint chirped her disapproval to Logan’s description but didn’t give any corrections.

“They’re often born in early spring, so they’re given small coats to keep them warm, but they are very active, so the coats quickly get covered in mud and small tears. It sounds much more endearing than it looks,” Logan said.

“Human hatchling weird, too,” Mint protested.

“Of course babies look weird,” Logan agreed.

“What? Babies are cute!” Patton protested.

“Babies are cute when they’re sleeping, but once they wake up and start screaming, they are not cute at all,” Rose said, rubbing her ears.

“Come on, Virgil, take my side,” Patton said.

“Sorry, Patton, but I have to side with Logan. They scream a lot, and they’re so fragile. It’s weird,” Virgil said, shaking Virgil’s head.

“It looks like we’re in agreement, sorry, Patton,” Rose said.

“Okay, but that mean I get all the cute baby animals!” Patton declared.

Rose gave a mock-offended gasp, “All of them?”

“All of them!” Patton confirmed, smiling.

“What if I say the magic words?” Rose asked.

“Well, I suppose then I’d have to release all the cuteness,” Patton replied, “But you’ll have to guess what the magic words are.”

“The magic words?” Rose tried.

“Ah, you got me, kiddo! I guess you can have some cuteness,” Patton said.

“How would you even hold cuteness?” Logan asked.

“Magic!” Rose quickly answered, making a small, star-shaped barrier appear, then pop.

“Okay, you have to get worse at barriers. Magic was my whole deal,” Virgil said.

In response, Rose made the word ‘No’ appear above her head, giggling and making it disappear with a clap. Virgil threw a snowball at her, and Rose quickly returned the action. Mint got the idea and kicked snow in their general direction, then cantered away, prancing just out of firing range. The sound of wing beats overhead made Mint circle back to walk next to the group, and Rose threw a snow ball at Mint, who chirped in offense.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 136  
> Logan: 2,143 Miles  
> Rose: 2,058 Miles  
> Patton: 2,079 Miles  
> Virgil: 4,659 Miles


	39. Flight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Flight(N): An act or instance of passing through the air by the use of wings

Mint flew above the humans. Virgil was watching over them, was smart, and could keep them safe. Mint wasn’t going far. The sky was dark, so the griffins would be asleep.

Mint knew the fledgling was watching her. All the humans were fledglings, really, except Logan could be said to be an adult. It was silly how long humans spent growing and learning.

Mint coasted above the foothills of the mountains to where the griffins had gone. The mountains rose up from the ground within a day’s human flight. Griffins called between themselves: “Should hunt soon.” “What think about this crevice?” “Oh, Craggle already claimed good spot.” “Not enough space for eggs.” “Heard there was another hippogriff around.” “Leave alone.” “Girl.” “Domestic?” “Travel with humans.” “Buzz off. All stuck up with caretakers and braids.” “No braids.” “Figure of speech.”

Mint shook her head at the crass conversation. And, for the record, she was not stuck-up; it made more sense to fly for guaranteed food than fly for food that fought back. And she didn’t care about the griffins debating nesting spots, even though they could have it easier by finding a village that would employ griffins as well as or instead of hippogriffs.

Mint took advantage of a rising thermal and flew above the nesting cliff and spotted the thin gleam that meant a barrier had been set up. She scanned the horizon but saw nothing important.

Mint reached past flight in to something even more primal, and starlight flooded her vision before clearing in to a single line. Mint let her wingtip glide over the stars, as she followed them back to the fledgling.

Mint landed neatly and chirped something meaningless to the fledgling before settling down to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 136  
> Mint: 6,628 Miles


	40. Dull

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dull(adj): Tedious, uninteresting

Patton watched a fox loping along beside them, the bits of orange peeking through its white winter coat nearly lost to distance. The fox turned, following an invisible trail out of Patton’s field of vision.

Patton had tried to stir up conversation earlier in the day, but no one seemed to be in the mood for it besides him. Mint was frustrated at their slow pace even though Rose, Virgil, and Logan were walking as fast as they could considering that the snow had melted and refrozen, leaving the hilly terrain a hazardous mixture of ice, mud, and stubborn bits of snow clinging to small shadows. Full-bellied clouds threatened to drop more freezing rain on them, and griffins still appeared periodically, never letting the travelers forget their presence.

Mint trotted ahead again. The way she slipped in the slush seemed to be no deterrent, as she flipped her head and trilled impatiently.

“Humans go as fast as humans can,” Logan told her exactly the same way as he had the past 3 times she had done so. Mint sulked back to her spot beside Virgil, snapping a bit of grass that was mostly mud out of the ground and tossing it in the air.

“Tantrums don’t make humans go faster,” Logan told her, “Will eat that?”

“No,” Mint grumbled, hanging her head so low her beak left a trail. She picked her head up and sneezed, spreading mud all over the place.

“Mint,” Logan chirped in a warning tone.

“Want home! Want home and can’t go until humans safe!” Mint trilled, prancing in a circle.

“Why not fly and look for village?”

“Did! Mint did! Not until mountains. Days and days and days,” Mint moaned, laying down in the slush, then quickly getting up and trotting ahead when she saw them stop.

“Maybe tell about flying?” Patton suggested, tripping over the unfamiliar feeling of chirping. Mint craned her neck at him, clearly not understand what he was trying to say.

“How about you tell us about flying?” Patton said.

“Flying fun. Humans miss out on a lot. Lots to pay attention to, so many things to see. See mountains and villages and oceans. Humans seen ocean?” Mint chirped.

“I think we all come from pretty far inland, so no,” Patton said.

“Did she ask if we’ve seen the ocean?” Virgil asked.

“Yeppers!”

“I’ve been to it once.”

“Oh? What’s it like?”

“It’s friggin windy, that’s for sure. There’s a ton of water, but it’s super salty and so full of like...fish poop and stuff that it’s basically opaque, so boo. And it’s huge: you can’t see the other coast at all, even if you go in to the point where your feet barely touch the bottom. You feel so tiny just standing there. Like, water is bigger than you and could probably take you down in a fight. There’s just...so much of it. So yeah, I don’t like the ocean,” Virgil said.

“Lot of wind, hard to fly. Pretty, though. Very pretty,” Mint chirped, “Don’t smell like fish poop. Virgil exaggerating.”

“Mint says you’re exaggerating about the fish poop,” Patton informed Virgil.

“It’s true! I mean, it’s mostly water and salt, but there’s a bunch of fish, and they don’t have anywhere else to poop, so there’s obviously fish poop in the ocean.”

Mint ruffled her feathers indignantly, although the gesture lost some of its poignancy because her side was streaked with mud. They reached the crest of the hill and looked down to see a melt-and-rain-swollen river rushing between the hills.

“Mint, think humans can walk across?” Rose chirped.

On cue the river brought a downed tree barreling around the corner. The tree caught on something in the submerged in the water briefly, but was quickly reclaimed by the current.

“No,” Mint said, her wings tenting up towards her head.

“Maybe there’s a town nearby that has a bridge across it?” Patton tried, scanning the horizon.

“Checked already. No villages until mountains,” Mint reminded them.

“I suppose the best course of action would be to follow the river to try to find a safe crossing point,” Logan said, adjusting his goggles. No one voiced any protests, so they started to trudge along, following the river.

It wasn’t long before Virgil spoke up, “Welp, we tried, we failed, let’s go to sleep.”

Mint trilled her opposition to that sentiment.

“Oh, come on, we can’t give up now! We only just started,” Rose protested.

“I’m going to side with Virgil on this one. We will be better equipped to handle this problem when we are rested. I’m going to set up the tent if anyone wants to join me inside,” Logan said. Patton sighed and landed, rummaging through his pack for food, as the lackluster crew set up camp for the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 143  
> Logan: 2,248 Miles  
> Rose: 2,163 Miles  
> Patton: 2,184 Miles  
> Virgil: 4,764 Miles


	41. Tedium

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tedium(N): The quality or state of being tedious  
> Tedious(Adj): Tiresome because of length or dullness

Logan woke up feeling only marginally better than last night. The tent was stuffy and overfull from all four of them crowding in to shelter from the rain. Even Mint had leaned in to the tent in an attempt to glean a little bit of protection from the weather.

Logan gently roused the others and crawled out of the tent. The ground sucked at his boots.

“Good morning, Mint,” Logan said. Mint kicked half-heartedly at empty air in response. They spent longer than strictly necessary eating breakfast and packing up. They looked down at the river, which had only grown bigger and stronger for the night’s rain.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, why didn’t I think of that yesterday?” Virgil groaned, burying Virgil’s face in Virgil’s hands.

“Language,” Patton chided.

“Sorry,” Virgil said, then closed Virgil’s eyes. A second later a small, narrow bridge appeared between the peaks of the two hills, shimmering the faint purple that seemed to be the default look of Virgil’s barriers.

“Now get across before I run out of energy,” Virgil said, stepping confidently on to the construct.

Rose stepped on hesitantly, and Logan took up the rear, as both Patton and Mint opted to fly themselves across. The barrier hummed with a feeling akin to static electricity. It felt completely solid under Logan’s feet. Somehow none of them tracked mud across the surface despite all of their shoes being caked in mud.

They reached the end too quickly for Logan to even begin to satiate his curiosity, and the bridge collapsed.

“That is fascinating,” Logan said.

“And exhausting,” Virgil snapped back.

“Will you teach me to summon barriers?” Logan asked, unfazed.

“What was wrong when I taught Rose to do it?”

Logan didn’t reply. He didn’t want to admit that he hadn’t wanted to make a fool of himself summoning a barrier that he hadn’t been entirely sure wasn’t just a combination of clever gimmicks and sleight of hand.

They trudged on, even quieter than a funeral procession. Mint didn’t bother goading them to walk faster. The sun seemed to waver in the sky, and clouds were already re-gathering to dump more rain on them. Their feet crunched through the thin crust of ice that had formed on the puddles, and water seeped in through the seams of Logan’s boots.

The mountains stood, seemingly unreachable, against the horizon. Logan wasn’t looking forward to the point where they had to hike across their stony faces, but at least according to Mint there was a village tucked inside the peaks. It would be nice to sleep on a bed and hopefully have a bath. If the journey continued this way they would probably stay an entire day there just to enjoy the comforts of a human settlement.

Logan’s foot caught on a stone. He righted himself and unnecessarily adjusted his goggles, only succeeding in smearing a bit of mud on the lenses. He took then off and wiped them clean, but it still didn’t seem to do much. Logan’s attention snapped away from his goggles when he heard humming. He quickly pointed the source to Virgil.

“What’re you humming, storm cloud?” Rose asked.

“Oh, just one of the usual traveling songs. It’s not even a very good one,” Virgil shrugged.

“You have traveling songs?” Patton asked.

“Well, yeah. We travel a lot: pilgrimages, hunting, autumn market…”

“Pilgrimages? But I remember you saying you ended up here on-” Logan started, but was cut off by Virgil.

“Just because I was lying to you about being on a pilgrimage doesn’t mean they don’t exists, gods. Where’d you think I got the idea from?”

“That is a fair point. Why did you go on pilgrimages?”

“You want an alphabetical list? I don’t even know all the reasons. I think whenever the healers see anything they can’t cure they just send ‘em off on a pilgrimage so they can pat themselves on the back. Besides, it’s like a coming of age thing to wander around for a bit before settling down,” Virgil replied, “And stop interrogating me on my culture.”

“My apologies, Virgil. It merely interested me because such a concept doesn’t exist in my culture,” Logan replied. He wanted to push the line of questioning, if only to give his mind something to focus on besides the monotony of travel and the sticky feeling of mud under under his feet, but he forced himself to shelve the idea, at least until Virgil felt comfortable discussing the concept again.

“Yeah, it doesn’t really exist for us, either. I wonder why it’s a thing for Verge,” Rose said.

“Possibly due to the isolation experienced from the mountain range we-”

“What did I just say?” Virgil groaned.

“Sorry,” Rose said.

“My apologies,” Logan sighed, racking his brain for something else to talk about, as they passed in to the treeline.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 144  
> Logan: 2,259 Miles  
> Rose: 2,174 Miles  
> Patton: 2,195 Miles  
> Virgil: 4,775 Miles


	42. Familiar

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Familiar(Adj): 1 Closely acquainted:4a Free and easy
> 
> !Warning!  
> Heavy swearing

Virgil squinted at the edge of the barrier. It was hard to see from the base of the cliff, but Virgil could see the faint shimmer and uniformity that didn’t match the rest of the rocks. A steep staircase carved in to the cliff confirmed that humans, or at least some sort of intelligent beings, lived here. The next star hung at the top of the staircase, waiting coldly for the freezing and muddy travelers to climb the staircase.

“What’s wrong, Virgil?” Patton asked, floating forward a couple inches.

“Nothing. I was just looking at the barrier,” Virgil said, closing the short distance between Virgil and the staircase. Virgil dipped through speed to make the climb slightly easier. Even so, the staircase seemed to stretch impossibly long, and Virgil was slightly jarred when there were no longer any steps in front of Virgil’s feet. Virgil let Virgil’s hand brush the star at the top, the cold sensation sweeping swiftly through Virgil’s body. Patton landed next to Virgil, as Rose reached the top and promptly sat down on the bare frozen rock.

_Lucky Patton with his flying wheelchair_ , Virgil thought bitterly, then mentally smacked Virgil with a broom for thinking that. Virgil’s chest ached from the exertion and altitude, and Virgil focused on taking deep breaths, as they waited for Logan to appear.

And waited.

And waited.

“Not important,” Mint chirped impatiently below them.

“Calm down,” Logan admonished her, then chirped something that Virgil didn't understand.

Mint chirped something Virgil didn’t recognize, then flew up to the slab.

“Logan stopped to look at stairs. Tell Logan to come.”

“Hey, L, you coming?” Virgil called down the staircase.

“Yes, I am coming,” Logan called back up. A few minutes later he reached the top of the staircase. He paused briefly to shoot a glare at Mint, who stuck her head in the air primly.

“Shall we enter?” Logan asked, gesturing to the barrier. Virgil put Virgil’s hand on the barrier, feeling the flow of energy in it. No message was imprinted, so it was easy to reach through defense and push a message requesting access in.

“It could take a bit for them to get the message,” Virgil said, leaving Virgil’s hand there to feel for a return message or Virgil’s own message circling back. Memories of standing outside the walls of some of the settlements in more dangerous positions or more traditional in values and waiting for a response drifted through Virgil’s mind. Logan nodded and climbed down a couple steps before sitting down. Silence stretched tautly between them, as they waited. Virgil’s eyes caught the return message before it slid in to range for Virgil to read. The blue patch in the barrier finally slid under Virgil’s fingers, and Virgil paused it to read.

“Request for entry by party under leadership of V granted. Guard approaching southern entrance to admit party of 4 humans and 1 hippogriff,” Virgil read off of the barrier. Virgil frowned slightly at the formality of the message but brushed it off as a mountain custom. The villages they had already passed through had had their eccentricities, too.

“Do you want us to call you V in there?” Rose asked.

“Yeah. I’m going to see how the guard introduces themself, but it’s probably best if you go by the first letter of your name, too. Mint included,” Virgil said, turning the message purple to indicate it had been read by outsiders before letting it continue its circuit. A small opening appeared in the barrier a second before a lightly-armored guard exited.

“I am Q, he/she/they. You are V?”

“You are correct, Q. I am V, no pronouns. These are my companions, P, he/him, R, she/her, and L, he/him, and our hippogriff, M, she/her,” Virgil replied, relaxing slightly, as the introductions followed the pattern Virgil was used to.

“Come inside the shield, and mind your step,” Q said, making the opening larger to admit Logan’s height and Patton’s width. They stepped inside and down a couple steps in to a large plaza. A group of performers played near the barrier’s edge, watched by a smattering of people. A hippogriff with half-feathered wings chased after a griffin with wings in the same state, nearly bumping in to people entering buildings that hugged the cliffside.

“The mountain doesn’t seem to have treated you well. Come to the guard station, and we’ll sort out quartering for the night,” Q said.

“Thank you,” V said, following her. They wound through the crowds to a wooden building that pressed up against the barrier instead of the cliff face.

“Hey, that’s against the rules.”

“Check ‘em, pal.”

“...Oh, bloody fucking holy gods, it’s allowed.”

“Check, mate, and win, shithead.”

Virgil didn’t know how good it could feel just to hear a swear word.

The babble of the guard station filled Virgil with a giddy feeling. Virgil recognized some of the patterns of the tapestries on the walls of being the make of one of the villages that nestled at the foot of the mountains, so they were clearly close enough to make trade a possibility. Virgil glanced around and saw Q talking to someone else. The two people playing cards started dealing them out again.

“Hey, what are you playing?” Virgil asked, swept up in the energy of the room.

“Bryn, want a hand?”

“Hell, yeah. Name’s V, no pronouns.”

“Hah, I’m V, too, she/her. Call me Val.”

“C, he/him.”

“I call him shithead,” Val chimed in.

“Shut up,” C said, lightly shoving her.

“Can they sit there while we play?” Virgil asked, motioning to the empty space around the table.

“Yeah, as long as they don’t mess with the game,” Val said.

Virgil turned to Logan, Patton, and Rose, “We can sit here while we wait. I’m going to play with these fuckers.”

“Hah! Not even dealt in and you’re insulting the dealer?”

“What of it?” Virgil asked, “Should I be insulting you more?”

“Hah, I like you. Now let’s get some cards on the table, huh, shithead?” Val said, and C started laying out the cards.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 152  
> Logan: 2,363 Miles  
> Rose: 2,277 Miles  
> Patton: 2,299 Miles  
> Virgil: 4,879 Miles


	43. Bryn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bryn(N): A fictitious card game inspired by an old folk hero

Logan watched the table, as curse-word riddled insults were swapped with the same speed as cards. Logan could barley glance at the face of the card before it disappeared in to another player’s hand or another card was played on top of it. He understood none of what was happening, but he could see that Virgil was almost out of cards, Val had a few more cards than Virgil, and C riffled through what was probably at least half the deck at an impossible speed each time he played to get to the card he wanted.

“Eat shit, Val,” Virgil said, slamming Virgil’s last card on to the table.

“Motherfucker,” Val said, laying down her last three cards in a neat fan.

“Good game. Who taught you to play so well you beat this fucker?” C asked, sweeping the cards in to his hand and shuffling.

“Eh, been around, played a couple games. It’s been a while though: I’m rusty.”

“Are you playing nice?” Q asked.

“Yes, sir.” “Yes, ma’am.”

“Well, we’re waiting to see if we can find somewhere to put your party up for the night, V.”

“I can put ‘em up. Might be kind of small for the four of you, but I can feed you and put you under a roof,” Val offered.

“Hey, you can’t steal all the travelers. I have the same offer, but I can also take care of your hippogriff,” C said, elbowing Val.

“I’ll let the captain know, then. When do your shifts end?”

“We’re on morning/mid rotation today,” Val said, right as a bell rang, “So right now.”

There was a flurry of movement, as guards poured towards a door in the back. Q walked back towards the person he had been talking to before, presumably the captain.

“You guys should head outside or you’ll be stuck in here until the entire afternoon guard gets in. We’ll get there quickly,” Val said. C shoved the cards in to a box that he pocketed, and they got swept up in the movement.

Virgil stood up, and Rose followed Virgil’s lead. Logan lead the way out the door, and they stood outside, as people poured in to the guard station and trickled out of it.

“What was that game that you were playing?” Logan asked.

“Bryn? It’s awesome. I haven’t played it in so long. I’d teach it to you, but you’d win in two seconds flat without even trying.”

“Oh, well, thank you? I would enjoy learning how to play,” Logan said.

“Yeah, I’ll teach you once we get to Val and C’s.”

“That sounds enjoyable. Shall we decide the groupings for lodging?” Logan asked, “Mint, I presume you’ll be going with C since he offered.”

Mint chirped an affirmative.

“Do you three have any preference about where you sleep?”

“I think I’d rather go with C,” Patton said.

“Why?” Rose asked.

“He seemed to curse less.”

“Oh my gods, I didn’t even think of that. Sorry, Patton?”

“I’ll just be glad when we’re on the road again,” Patton said, “I didn’t think I’d be grateful to go back to traveling through the mountains.”

“Well, Rose, are you interested in learning how to play Bryn?” Logan asked.

“Not right now,” Rose said.

“Then I suppose it makes sense for me and V to go with Val and you, Patton, and Rose to go with C, if everyone’s alright with that,” Logan said. Everyone agreed right as C and Val came out, now wearing light clothing that loosely resembled what Virgil wore, but in much better shape and brighter colors.

“Alright, bitches, let’s go,” Val said. They were lead to two stone houses, both partly built and partly carved out of a cave. Patton offered to do their laundry, so Logan and Rose took a moment to change in to their cleanest clothing. Logan handed over the stack of clothes, and Patton gave them a little wave before wheeling for the entrance to C’s house.

“Hey, Val, I told L I’d teach him how to play Bryn.”

“You don’t know how to play Bryn? Bitch, how are you even alive?” Val asked, sweeping a deck of cards off the shelf.

Virgil began to explain the rules, as she dealt the hands. True to Virgil’s predictions, Logan quickly caught on to the flow of play and triumphantly slammed his winning card down within 10 rounds of the game.

“Come on, you’re doing it all wrong: you have to swear when you win,” Val said, flicking her last card at Logan.

“Bitch,” Logan replied.

“That’s better. You fuckers want to shower while I cook?” Val asked, collecting the fallen card and stuffing the deck back in to the box.

“Yeah,” Virgil replied. Val showed them where they could clean up, then disappeared in to a different room. Logan spent longer than strictly necessary washing off, and by the time both of them had finished Val was serving a plain-looking meal that made Logan’s mouth hurt when he took a bite. Logan glanced at Virgil and Val.

“Oh, Logan might die of a properly spiced meal. You should see the stuff we’ve been eating,” V said.

“I don’t believe food is supposed to make your mouth hurt,” Logan protested. They lightheartedly debated how much spice a meal should have, although Val made a milder version of the meal without Logan asking, waving off Logan’s assurance that it wasn’t necessary. The milder version still stung Logan’s tongue, but it was bearable, even though Val and Virgil laughed at how much water Logan drank.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 152  
> Logan: 2,363 Miles  
> Rose: 2,277 Miles  
> Patton: 2,299 Miles  
> Virgil: 4,879 Miles


	44. Desert

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Desert(N): Arid land, usually with sparse vegetation

Rose leaned in to the warmth of Mint. It was late, but she wasn’t really tired. It felt strange to sleep where she couldn’t see the stars above her and feel the ground beneath her. Rose watched the dark space beyond the translucent barrier. She was pretty sure it was snowing, but the darkness left a lot up to her imagination.

Mint blew hot air in to Rose’s loose hair, ticking the back of her neck. Rose squealed a little and turned to face Mint.

“Pretty here,” Rose chirped when Mint didn’t tell her anything.

“Tired,” Mint chirped.

“Oh, Rose open gate,” Rose chirped, getting up and pushing open the heavy door to the hippogriff/griffin stable. She pulled open the gate to the back right stall of the little 4-stall barn. Mint walked in and sung something quietly. The griffin beside her sung something back, and Mint laid down. Rose closed the gate and quietly slipped back in to C’s house.

Rose felt her way down the short hallway, past the kitchen, and to the living room. Her hand drifted over the stone oven, past a soft chair, and over the seat of Patton’s wheelchair. She slowly swept her foot out until she felt her sleeping bag and crawled in, waiting to fall asleep.

*****

“Safe travels,” Val said, opening up the barrier.

“Stay warm?” C said, eyeing the piles of snow that had fallen overnight and the still-drifting snowflakes.

“Yeah, thanks. We’ll come by if we ever decide to hike through these bitches again,” Verge said, gesturing at the mountains.

“Hah! We’ll count the days. I still have to beat you at Bryn.”

“Never,” Verge replied, then stepped through the barrier. Rose, Logan, Patton, and Mint followed Verge out, and the barrier closed behind them.

“Where to now?” Logan asked Verge.

“Looks like a straight shot down this trail,” Verge replied, leading the way on to a trail that was barely wide enough to admit Patton’s wheelchair. The trail quickly led them below the tree line, somewhat shielding them from the snow.

“Well, you seemed to enjoy your time at that settlement, Virgil,” Logan said.

“Fuck yeah! It was like being home minus all the sand and heat.”

“Language,” Patton said.

“Sorry, Patton. What did you guys think of it?”

“It was very interesting. I still think you need to reconsider the amount of spice you put in your meals, but otherwise...it was fun," Logan said.

"I thought the same thing! It was weird not being able to see the stars, though," Rose said.

Mint trilled quietly beside her, and Rose patted her neck.

“It was nice beyond all the cursing,” Patton said.

“Very nice place,” Mint chirped.

The trees grew steadily taller, and Logan stopped, squinting at the canopy.

“What’s wrong, Logan?” Patton asked.

“We may be entering a dryadic forest,” Logan replied. Rose shivered, as she remembered their last encounter with a dryad.

“Is there anything we can do?” Rose asked.

“Stay together and don’t use magic. We’ll be okay,” Logan assured them, continuing down the trail, “There wouldn’t be a trail here if it was unsafe.”

Rose walked a little closer to the center of the path, right behind Verge. A sound rang through the forest. It sounded like thunder and the clang of a cast-iron pot wrapped in to one impossibly loud crack. Rose whipped around to see a dryad step on to the path, holding out two leafy hands. Mint sung something to it, which made the dryad nod and make a sound that loosely resembled a breathy laugh.

“Dryad take to edge,” Mint said, stepping on to the dryad’s outstretched arms. Logan shrugged and followed her in to the dryad’s embrace. Patton hesitated for a moment, then landed his wheelchair next to Logan. Rose hesitated, eyeing the thorny arms that hung above the dryad’s face.

“It’s safe, Rose, V,” Logan assured them, sitting down and patting the space next to him.

Rose slowly climbed on to the dryad’s hands and sat down between him and Patton. Verge climbed on last, sitting stiffly next to Patton, who took Verge’s hand and guided Verge through a breathing exercise.

The dryad lifted its arms and started walking. It felt more like the dryad was slowly drifting through the forest rather than taking a single step. The wind whipped around Rose, blowing her hair in to her face. Snowflakes fought their way past the thick covering of leaves and blew towards the ground. Moss hung in thick curtains off of tree branches, and another dryad drifted past in the other direction, barely paying the travelers any heed.

The dryad stopped where the canopy thinned and lowered its hands. Verge, Mint, Patton, Logan, and Rose climbed off and waved to the the dryad, who waved back before gliding back towards the cover of the tall trees.

They turned to look ahead at the trail, and the sunset lit up an entire world of sand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 153  
> Logan: 2,614 Miles  
> Rose: 2,528 Miles  
> Patton: 2,550 Miles  
> Virgil: 5,130 Miles


	45. Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Home(N): 3a A familiar or usual setting: congenial environment
> 
> !Warning!  
> Death

If there was nothing stopping Virgil, Virgil would have run in to the dunes and rolled around in the sand. Virgil would have reached through speed and chased after the setting sun until Virgil was exhausted and only then looked for a village. As it was, Virgil whispered two words that were claimed by the wind the instant they dropped from Virgil’s lips, “We’re home.”

Virgil led the way in to the dunes, reveling in the simple fact of sand under Virgil’s shoes. Virgil had missed the fucking bastard granules of rock.

“We better make camp before the sun sets,” Virgil said, picking up a handful of sand and letting it drain through Virgil’s fingers. The temperature was already dropping, and soon the desert would come alive with creatures that weren’t opposed to snacking on wanderers.

And the next day Virgil would be home for real.

*****

Virgil roused the others just before the sun rose. The walk was long, hot, and amazing. They finally reached Virgil’s village when the sun was hanging dangerously low. A barrier encompassed the entirety of the village.

That was odd.

Virgil put Virgil’s hand on the barrier and felt no messages woven in to it. Virgil slipped a message requesting entrance in. A few minutes later the message returned without a response. Virgil let it go around again to no avail.

Oh.

The barrier was the color of puss oozing from an infected wound. It was the color of death. It was the color that let you know that the person who put up the barrier had sunk every last bit of their energy in to making it stay up after they died, then died before they could see their barrier go up.

“You guys wait out here, okay?” Virgil said. Virgil slowly melded a new barrier that encompassed Virgil with the existing barrier and let Virgil in to the village.

Virgil walked down paths that Virgil knew better than the back of Virgil’s hand. No one ran out to greet Virgil. The houses stood untouched. Unlit cooking fires were tended by no one. Toys lay abandoned in the path. A star glimmered in the entrance way to the nursery. Virgil pushed open the hanging door to the nursery.

Two skeletons slumped in the corner with dolls spread around them. The infant room was filled with pairs of skeletons: adults and babies. Every room Virgil checked had only skeletons and their belongings. Questions swirled in Virgil’s mind, coming and going too quickly to make sense of it at all.

Virgil made Virgil breathe to the pattern Patton had first showed Virgil on the very first day they met.

Virgil’s footsteps lead Virgil to the single wooden house in the village. It barely existed anymore: Janus’s furniture and ash were the only sign that there had been a house there at all.

Virgil sat down in the unnaturally still air, surrounded by the decayed remnants of Virgil’s home. Virgil had no idea what happened, only when, and Virgil knew there was no use checking the houses because nothing living could have survived so long inside the barrier.

Virgil checked anyways, and Virgil came up empty handed. Virgil stood in front of the barrier. It had been someone’s dying wish to prevent someone from entering or leaving the village. Virgil had done enough disrespect to the dead.

Virgil slipped out of the barrier. Logan, Patton, Rose, and Mint still waited patiently outside.

“Hey, kiddo,” Patton said, “Good to be home?”

Virgil shook Virgil’s head, “They’re dead. There’s nothing in there but skeletons.”

“Oh,” Patton said, opening his arms up to offer a hug. Virgil stepped in to his embrace. Virgil didn’t cry. Virgil peaked at the others.

Patton, who had so much love and kindness.

Rose, who had so many ideas and so much bravery.

Logan, who had so much knowledge and serenity.

Mint, who traveled so far from home just to protect them.

Virgil gently pulled back, “We should get to the oasis.”

They followed Virgil silently to the oasis, trusting Virgil to know the way. Virgil pulled up plants to supplement and flavor the food they had with them. The camp was set silently, only broken once they all sat in a loose circle with their dinner finished.

“What will you do now, Virgil?” Logan said gently. Virgil looked around them again. Virgil blinked, and small stars appeared near each of their hearts.

“I told the demon I wanted to go home, and it gave me stars,” Virgil said slowly, trailing off as Virgil realized Virgil didn’t know where to go from there. Logan, Rose, and Patton looked at Virgil patiently, waiting for Virgil to gather Virgil’s thoughts.

“We’ve been following the stars, and right now you guys are the brightest things out there,” Virgil finally said. Patton opened his arms to offer another hug, and all three of them accepted it. Mint even laid a wing over the top of the group hug.

And in their embrace Virgil felt the exhaustion of months of travel, the love of close friends, and a dozen feelings too complicated to name.

And in their embrace Virgil was home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 153  
> Logan: 2,629 Miles  
> Rose: 2,543 Miles  
> Patton: 2,565 Miles  
> Virgil: 5,145 Miles  
> The End.


End file.
